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Billy Hindle
Hi there, Billy Hindle here, the voice of Alice Dyer in the Magnus Protocol. As part of the Magnus Archive's 10th anniversary, Rusty Quill is hosting a special Magnus Live show at the upcoming Crossed Wires Podcast Festival in Sheffield. Join co creators Jonathan Sims and Alexander J. Newell on 5 July for a new iteration of our live show. Statement Begins, where you can hear fan favorite statements such as anglerfish, redlive and gain exclusive insights into the creation and history of the show straight from the creators themselves. You can buy your tickets now, including limited numbers of meet and greet tickets from Crossedwires Live or the link in the description of this episode.
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Jameela Jamil
what if you laughed all through your commute? Or if you heard the funniest story while at the gym? Well, now you can I'm Jameela Jamil and guests on my new podcast Wrong Turns share their most mortifying and hilarious disaster stories. I'm talking people like Mae Martin, Bob the Drag Queen, Catherine Ryan, Jake Johnson, Margaret Cho, Simon Pegg, Penn Badgley, and so many more. So listen wherever you get your podcast Wrong Turns where dignity goes to die
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Karine
Acast.com Monday AI agents took over my work and I absolutely love it. Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders, agents handle the daily grind. Now they live inside Monday.com, so they see the full picture. My work, my team, the whole company. And I don't have to worry about the data. It's safe, which means I'm free to focus on the big stuff. Knowing everything runs smoothly in the background, it's completely shifted the way we work. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday.com hi everyone, it's Karine, the
Karim
voice of Simon Fairchild from the Magna Sar guys, or the Eternal Tavern keeper in Chapter and Multiverse. Today I'm here to tell you about Malevolent, a podcast launched on the RQ Network. Malevolent is a weekly horror fiction podcast filled with dark noir, Eldritch horror, Arkham private investigator Arthur Lester wakes up with no memory of who he is or what has happened, only a nameless, eerie voice guiding him through the darkness. Blind, terrified and confused, his journey will lead him towards a series of mysteries in the hopes of understanding the truth of what has transpired. As cosmic horrors seep into the world, Arthur must ask himself whether this entity truly seeks to help him, or are its intentions more malevolent? Search for Malevolent wherever you listen to your podcasts or visit www.rustedquill.com or www.malevolent.ca for more information. Have fun. See you later.
Jonathan Sims
Hi there, Jonathan Sims here. And before today's episode I wanted to tell you about from the Library of Jurgen Leitner an upcoming the Magnus Archives prequel novel available for pre order right now at www.rustyquill.com novel Return to the World of the Magnus Archives Inn from the Library of Jurgen Leitner an official prequel novel written by Nebula World Fantasy and Aurora Award winning author Premie Muhammad with the help of yours truly. From the Library of Jurgen Leitner explores an infamous organization from the Magnusverse for the first time. The perilous private library of the enigmatic collector Jurgen Leit from the Library of Jurgen Leitner will be published on October 27, 2026 and is available for pre order now as a hardback audiobook and eBook. Visit www.rustedquill.com novel for more information. That's rustyquill.com novel or click the link in the show Notes of this Epis.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
Gigantomachia by Alucard.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Report of Lieutenant Woodsworth on the preliminary
Lieutenant Woodsworth
investigation into subject Atlas 2, Lieutenant Richard
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Woodsworth, Sergeant Annabelle Goethe, Corporals Maximilian Edward
Lieutenant Woodsworth
Stephenson and Carlisle Howitzer actions Recognizance and
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
sampling of materials for further research. Unexpected redetachment Access through the designated opening
Lieutenant Woodsworth
determined by the bioengineering Squad.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Utilise as few tools as possible to prevent loss of valuable instruments and ensure quick departure. Committing only to a preliminary assessment, the squad fulfilled the preliminary investigation as ordered, finding expected setbacks as per the sitrep recovering the necessary samples. A full report in detail can be read in the attachment provided by Sergeant Goethe per request of Colonel Lewis Ryder.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
Attachment this is the extended report of the mission into subject Atlas 2 charged
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
to the squadron led by Lieutenant Woodsworth by request of Colonel Ryder. It shall be detailed and civilian oriented, so I will spare military terminology unless necessary.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
It is odd to be writing this way. I'm no journalist.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
I don't understand why Colonel Ryder wants it this way, but it is not
Lieutenant Woodsworth
on me to question such orders as
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
a short preface for those unaware. Atlas ii, colloquially known as Devourer, is laying dead in the middle of a metropolitan area.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
Like its predecessor, it took a lot of resources, time and lives to bring it down.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Unlike Atlas 1, we had access to
Lieutenant Woodsworth
a carcass we can study.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Command ordered an investigation into it, providing us with very little resources and shipped
Lieutenant Woodsworth
us off once my eyes set on it. The word Titanic came to mind My
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
wife, Elizabeth, is a mythologist. She often tells me how we don't actually have any indication that the titans of Greek myth were any different in size from the gods.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
I wonder if Zeus ever trembled like I did when fighting his own terrifying enemies.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
We entered through a cavity cut by
Lieutenant Woodsworth
the bioengineering squad on its abdomen.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Both corporals stayed at the entrance. Stephenson reported from the outside, while Howitzer did so on the inside. Lieutenant Woodsworth and I went into the
Lieutenant Woodsworth
belly of the beast, so to speak.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
The first thing that hit me was the smell. We didn't know if decomposition would affect it. Taken by millions of bacteria, fungi and
Lieutenant Woodsworth
insects, expelling that familiar, sweet, awful scent. It smelled fresh.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
The only thing compared to it is eucalyptus.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
Clean and overpowering. Then there was the silence.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Our march on its flesh made a
Lieutenant Woodsworth
squelching beneath our boots.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Some soundproofing quality prevented us from hearing
Lieutenant Woodsworth
any echo in the distance.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Our flashlights guided us through the dark,
Lieutenant Woodsworth
checking with Max and Carlisle every 10 minutes.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
The meat was soft, but in the way of waterbed mattresses, giving way easily
Lieutenant Woodsworth
to the boots for a moment before the tension would risk breaking.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Walking became a matter of constant motion. We couldn't stay idle for fear of
Lieutenant Woodsworth
a rupture releasing its potentially toxic fluids. Every once in a while, I would find support on a solid portion of the walls. Patches of what looked like rocky slates, similar to scabs on the skin.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
It was something we could sample. We pulled our tools out and scraped some of felt.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
Sandy to the touch.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Even with gloves on, I could smell it through the mask.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
Rotten, sweet, falling like thick sand on our tools.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Richard was excited that we were already making progress. The smell was stronger the further we got, until we found an access to what looked like a breathing cave.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
The scabby plates covered almost everything, not unlike a scaly lung. It was eerie.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
A room big enough to hold three trucks.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
Inhaling, then exhaling. The smell of rot was everywhere, but nothing seemed to be decomposing.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Richard was ecstatic. I wasn't. He argued that some activity after death was expected. But if there was even a chance of it still living, I had cause for alarm. We checked with the corporals.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
Both confirmed subject Atlas 2 was still.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Richard insisted this was what we came here for. So I took our cameras out and began compiling documentation. I couldn't shake the feeling of being
Lieutenant Woodsworth
captured, as if this place was a fly trap, eager to digest us in her jaws.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Worse, I feared this whole thing was playing dead, uncaring about what our tools would do to it, just waiting for
Lieutenant Woodsworth
its Time to kill again. Perhaps it's sleeping, I told Richard, but
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
he kept saying the Bio Squad had taken every measure to make sure we'd be safe. It is dead. I reminded him that the Bio Squad could only do so much with limited data, which was why we were there.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
I shouldn't have.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
That made him forget about everything else. It wasn't mere scientific curiosity. He had confirmation that we couldn't use our knowledge of biology to understand how it worked. Which proves my point. I said, we don't know if it's dead. He waved it away, which was expected. He'd dismiss anything that could deny him this opportunity.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
We did two more check ins and advanced.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
After some searching, I spotted an opening
Lieutenant Woodsworth
that went down a slithery slope.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Immediately, Richard wanted to go, but I refused.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
Better if just one person fell down.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
He could have ordered me to stay, but we both knew it'd be a waste.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
He was going to go there eventually.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
As soon as I stepped down, my
Lieutenant Woodsworth
boot slipped and I was rapidly descending.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Whatever wall I was falling along was slick with a substance that smelled like rust. I flailed around to grab for anything. The sound of my body splashing its way down echoed. Whatever soundproofing this thing had did not
Lieutenant Woodsworth
exist in this chamber.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Even through the fear, I could tell this one was way bigger than the rest.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
I tried to stand up, but could barely get to my knees. The strange substance that pooled in this place made it impossible to get on my feet.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
After an interminable minute of tripping over and over, I decided to simply slide on my hands and knees.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
It was humiliating, but it worked.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Thankfully, my shoulder mounted flashlight hadn't broken, so I used it to inspect this
Lieutenant Woodsworth
new chamber I was in.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
It was massive, larger than the tunnel in the cave we'd seen, covered in
Lieutenant Woodsworth
this slimy substance that had a reddish brown coloration.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
On closer inspection, it didn't smell so
Lieutenant Woodsworth
much of rust, more coppery, with a strange hint of ozone, like a broken stage light.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
I tried to communicate again, but my hands were too slimy. I couldn't use any of my tools, both in practice, but also because I
Lieutenant Woodsworth
feared soaking and damaging them. I kept sliding on that strange surface, looking for a way out, research be damned.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
If the Bio Squad and Richard wanted to investigate this place in more detail, they could do it by themselves.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
That is, assuming I wouldn't die there.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
I could see it already. A stupid obituary with the least flattering picture of me in my uniform showing on the news, talking about my noble sacrifice for two minutes before getting to the new fashion trend. My Scoff echoed through the chamber.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
It was a stark reminder of my solitude, of a death that would be witnessed by none.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Even if this slime was not toxic
Lieutenant Woodsworth
enough to rot my insides, the lack
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
of food and air would eventually take me out.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
I laughed.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Here I was, crawling on all fours for a way out of a cavernous, fleshy building that performed who knows what function to the titanic being that was either fully asleep or still functioning after death.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
That word again. Titanic. But it wasn't the Titans that were gargantuan in size. That was the next set of enemies the gods faced. The giants created specifically to kill the Olympians.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Colossal horrors that made the earth shake
Lieutenant Woodsworth
with each step, crushing mountains with their hands powerful enough to kill the immortal
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
gods of the sky, the seas, and the underworld.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
That place felt like the underworld, but without vast cities of shades or monsters guarding it. Instead, it had tall walls drooling with a red and brown substance.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
I had no climbing equipment, but even with it, this sick slime would make it impossible.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
I looked up in desperation.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
I don't want to relay what I saw up there. I understand. Those are my orders, so I'll do it. But Colonel Rider, just know I resent it. No one else should suffer it, even through text.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
Richard was right. There was no way to understand it.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
An animal that size could not support its own circulatory system, could not feed on such a tiny amount of food. Even if that was cities worth of humans, an animal did not digest its
Lieutenant Woodsworth
food from the top of its stomach to the floor. But there it was. The melting mass of millions of still
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
living people stuck, stuck to the ceiling
Lieutenant Woodsworth
of this colossal stomach.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Clothes fused to liquefied flesh. Bones indistinguishable from the marrow. Once inside them, skin mixed with plastic or metal. Muscle and sinews stretched to its limit, forming knots of fibrous tissue. Eyes with teeth inside, nails pierced by eyelashes. Few things in their resembled human limbs. If you're reading this report, you're probably wondering how I could know they were still alive. It's simple really. Because they were begging for death. No, Colonel, I don't know how. By all rights, they should have been dead. Their bodies barely holding because they were stuck together. Throats that shouldn't be able to make sounds. Eyes that should be blind. Awakened by my flashlight. They spoke almost in unison, broken only by a painful individuality that took away
Lieutenant Woodsworth
any chance to lose consciousness. As I said, they begged for death.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
They didn't ask for help. They sang like a Greek chorus, begging the fates for release. Conscious enough to Suffer to know even if they were rescued, there was no way to survive this.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
We all knew that Their lives were
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
supported by a horrifying mass of living
Lieutenant Woodsworth
tissue keeping them in eternal torment.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
I could distinguish some of them. An old woman crying for someone to blow her head with a rifle. A policeman screaming in terror for his brother, lost somewhere around that mass of flesh, a tourist unlucky enough to be at the wrong beach in time, now,
Lieutenant Woodsworth
mixed with dirty sand in his veins,
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
I could tell which cities they'd lived in, even their neighborhood. I could take a goddamn census of that monster's eating habits. The worst part was when I realized something else. I recognized these people. The sweet old man I bought flowers from. My high school math teacher, my wife's yoga instructor, my mother's best friend. I thought myself lucky, pulling strings to get my friends and family out of the carnage. I hadn't technically lost anyone. So now the gods were punishing my hubris, making me witness the eternal horror this devourer had brought upon us. I saw my old captain, a brave man who had insisted on fighting against this otherworldly monster from day one. He'd been one of the first, years ago, when it decimated a whole city without suffering a scratch. I had mourned this man, armed myself, determined to do my part, to honor his sacrifice by saving as many lives as I could. But he wasn't dead. He was looking deep into my eyes, begging me to end his misery.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
I screamed louder than I ever have
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
until my throat was sore.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
My lungs pulled, burning.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
All the air inside me burst through my lips, mouth up to that fleshy sky, prostrated like a penitent, realizing no God would have mercy on her.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
It was so loud I didn't feel the chamber shift.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
I slipped on my back, desperately grasping, finding no purchase, no way to stop my descent into my next unknown, horrible fate.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
It did not matter whether this creature
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
was dead or if it had ever been alive.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
I was not meant to be inside it, so it would correct that.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
It pulled me through tunnels made of wet meat, bumping me around its walls, tossing me from chamber to chamber. My suit ruptured. I lost my watch in the first five minutes. I hit my head so many times it was ringing. After 10, my arm broke at around the 20 minute mark. I know this because my comms came back. Max and Carlisle called desperately to know where I was. Richard was eager to learn what I had found. After 30 minutes of beating fleshy caverns,
Lieutenant Woodsworth
it spit me out. I broke a leg and some ribs
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
on the concrete I definitely had a concussion considering the blood dripping from my forehead. With whatever strength I had left, I called back, told the corporals to triangulate
Lieutenant Woodsworth
my location through my signal.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
I couldn't tell where I was as my eyes were covered in the liquefied
Lieutenant Woodsworth
remains of the people inside that hell. The last thing I remember were the blades of a chopper coming down while my body finally collapsed on the floor. Carlisle was next to me when I woke up. That blessed boy making sure I was all right.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
The doctors informed us I had no
Lieutenant Woodsworth
major injuries, but neither of us bought it.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
I'm sure there was some lasting brain
Lieutenant Woodsworth
damage, but that'll be a nightmare for later.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
He told me I was ejected out of Subject Atlas 2, 10 blocks from the entrance through a previously unknown orifice in its throat. Regardless, I am out of that monster and I'm not coming back.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
Lizzie's taking care of me and it'll be a while before I get back into action, if I ever do. That's alright.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
I'm thinking of changing careers, maybe moving to a different country.
Lieutenant Woodsworth
I know Lizzie would appreciate it. She wasn't as lucky as me. Now this land has memories we both would rather forget. I didn't tell her I saw her cousin there. What he said to me, that is something I will never forget. And she doesn't need to know. Richard contacted me a few days ago, telling me about the Colonel's orders.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
I'm guessing he asked Ryder to make
Lieutenant Woodsworth
some arrangements, have me give an official report on the matter to have all the gruesome details.
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
Well, there you have it. I went into the meaty Avernus that
Lieutenant Woodsworth
holds millions of souls in pain, and
Sergeant Annabelle Goethe
I'm telling you, I will not go back unless to blow it all the way to kingdom come, see its body turned to trillions of pieces scattered. I am not going back. Please, God, Gods of Olympus, the Demiurge, or Satan himself, whatever being that's capable of creating such a thing. If there is any mercy in your heart, please take it back. And please,
Lieutenant Woodsworth
please kill them all.
Alex J. Newell
The Magnus Protocol is a podcast distributed by Rusty Quill and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial share alike 4.0 international license to subscribe View associated materials or join our Patreon visit rustyquill.com Rate and review us online, Tweet us thererustyquill, visit us on Facebook or email us via mail rustyquilt.com thanks for listening.
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Jameela Jamil
What if you laughed all through your commute. Or if you heard the funniest story while at the gym, well, now you can I'm Jameela Jamil and guests on my new podcast Wrong Turns share their most mortifying and hilarious disaster stories. I'm talking people like May Martin, Bob the Drag Queen, Katherine Ryan, Jake Johnson, Margaret Cho, Simon Pegg, Penn Badgley, and so many more. So listen wherever you get your podcast. Wrong Turns Where Dignity goes to die
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Billy Hindle
Acast.com Billy Hindle here the voice of Alice in the Magnus Protocol and I'm here to tell you about from the Library of Jurgen Leitner, an upcoming novel available for pre order right now@rustedquill.com novel Return to the World of the Magnus Archives in From the Library of Jurgen Leitner an official official prequel novel written by Nebula World Fantasy and Aurora Award winning author Preemie Muhammad. With the help of the Magnus Archive's own writer and lead voice, Jonathan Sims, from the Library of Jurgen Leitner explores an infamous organization from the Magnusverse for the first time. The perilous private library of the enigmatic collector Jurgen Leitner, where occult books are guarded and researched at a fatal cost. Leitner's library keeps the dangers of these books in check and the would be readers safe, or so Lightner claims. For two of Leitner's employees, the risks are worth it. For Hugh Franklin, the library is a place to belong. For Sebastian Everett, the library is an opportunity to indulge arcane ambitions. Though their 10 years at the library were years apart, Hugh and Sebastian's stories unfold in parallel and their footsteps echo down the same eerie aisles, caught in a web spun long before either ever heard the name Jurgen Leitner. Will they find a way out? Or will the library consume them before it's too late? From the Library of Jurgen Leitner will be published on October 27, 2026 and is available for pre order now. Visit rustyquill.comnovel for more information. That's rustyquill.comnovel hi everyone, it's Karim, the
Karim
voice of Simon Fairchild from the Magnus archives, or the eternal tavern keeper in Chapter Multiverse. Today I'm here to tell you about Malevolent, a podcast launched on the RQ Network. Malevolent is a weekly horror fiction podcast filled with dark noir, eldritch horror, Arkham private investigator Arthur Lester wakes up with no memory of who he is or what has happened, only a nameless, eerie voice guiding him through the darkness. Blind, terrified, and confused, his journey will lead him towards a series of mysteries in the hopes of understanding the truth of what has transpired. As cosmic horrors seep into the world, Arthur must ask himself whether this entity truly seeks to help him, or are its intentions more malevolent? Search for Malevolent Wherever you listen to your podcasts or visit www.rustedquill.com or www.malevolent.ca for more information. Have fun. See you later.
Alex J. Newell
Hi Alex Here, founder and CEO of Rusty Quill Ltd. In case you haven't heard, there is now a Magnus Archives novel. The Library of Jurgen Leitner is set in the world of the Magnus Archives and written by Nebula Award winning author Premier Muhammad with our very own Jonathan Sims. The story follows Hugh, a university dropout desperate to find somewhere to belong and his new job at an esoteric library. The books he must investigate for the enigmatic Jurgen Leitner are not normal because the library is not a vault sealed and silent, but a hive, alive, buzzing and ready to sting. The Library of Jurgen Leitner Releases October 27, 2026 but you can pre order it right now in the US and UK from your local bookshop or by using the link in the episode description. If you live outside of the UK or us, you may be able to make an international order for this first publication, but it depends on individual retailers, shipping policies.
Release Date: June 11, 2026
Podcast: The Magnus Archives (Rusty Quill)
Host(s): Rusty Quill Team, dramatic reading performed by cast
Featured Story: “Gigantomachia” by Alukard
This special Rusty Fears episode delivers a chilling stand-alone horror narrative, “Gigantomachia” by Alukard, set in the shared universe of The Magnus Archives. Through the recovered field reports of Lieutenant Woodsworth and Sergeant Goethe, the audience is thrust into the aftermath of a colossal eldritch entity—Atlas 2, “the Devourer”—slain in a decimated metropolis, its corpse now a site of grim investigation. The episode explores the intersection of cosmic horror and human frailty, focusing on survivor’s guilt, the unknowable, and the trauma of confronting horror on a massive scale. True to The Magnus Archives, the episode blurs the lines between myth, science, and existential dread.
Setup:
The narrative opens with Lieutenant Woodsworth’s formal military report, reinterpreted for civilian understanding, at Colonel Ryder’s insistence.
Expedition Team:
Woodsworth leads Sergeant Annabelle Goethe, Corporals Stephenson and Howitzer, to survey and sample the body of Atlas 2.
Backdrop:
Atlas 2 (the “Devourer”), a titan felled by military might but never fully understood, dominates the ruined metropolitan landscape.
“Once my eyes set on it, the word ‘Titanic’ came to mind.” – Lieutenant Woodsworth [06:10]
Mythological Aside:
Goethe’s wife, Elizabeth, a mythologist, is referenced, seeding an undercurrent of classical myth vs. modern horror.
Entry & Sensory Details:
The squad enters via a cavity in Atlas 2’s abdomen.
“Clean and overpowering. Then there was the silence.” – Lieutenant Woodsworth [07:05]
Initial Sampling:
The investigators sample “scabby” sections of tissue, characterized as sandy, rotten, and sweet-smelling.
Unease vs. Scientific Curiosity:
Sergeant Goethe is unnerved; Woodsworth is driven by scientific zeal.
Fateful Descent:
Goethe slips into a massive chamber slick with reddish-brown, rust-smelling slime. Traditional investigation is abandoned for desperate escape.
“Here I was, crawling on all fours for a way out of a cavernous, fleshy building that performed who knows what function…” – Sergeant Goethe [11:57]
Cosmic Disorientation:
Goethe is physically disempowered, alone, and muses on the impossibility of such beings in natural law—animal physiology writ at inhuman scale: “That word again. Titanic. But it wasn’t the Titans that were gargantuan in size. That was the next set of enemies the gods faced. The giants created specifically to kill the Olympians.” [12:09]
Discovery of the Consumed:
The true horror is found: The ceiling of the titanic stomach is lined with living humans—fused together, eyes with teeth inside, bodies warped beyond recognition, physically alive and cognitively aware enough to beg for death.
“The melting mass of millions of still living people stuck, stuck to the ceiling of this colossal stomach... They begged for death.” – Sergeant Goethe [13:17–14:19]
Personal Horror:
Goethe recognizes community members, friends, even her wife’s cousin, within the mass. The horror is rendered intimate and punishing, as she realizes her own attempts at self-preservation have led to a revelation of unbearable personal cost.
Descent & Expulsion:
Goethe’s screams trigger a bodily reaction—she is knocked about through the titan’s organic tunnels, her suit is damaged, she’s physically battered.
Recovery:
Rescued by her squad, with evidence of lasting physical and likely psychological damage.
Return to Civilian Life (or Not):
Goethe considers quitting, moving away, possibly leaving the entire country—grief and trauma are inescapable, as are the memories of the Devourer’s victims.
The Impossible Request:
Goethe delivers her official statement, fulfilling the Colonel’s orders but laced with personal vendetta.
“I went into the meaty Avernus that holds millions of souls in pain... I am not going back. Please, God, Gods of Olympus, the Demiurge, or Satan himself... If there is any mercy in your heart, please take it back. And please, please kill them all.” – Sergeant Goethe [19:01–19:16]
Core Theme:
The horror is not just cosmic but deeply personal—punishment for hubris, and a call for obliteration rather than reclamation.
True to The Magnus Archives, the narrative is tense, intimate, scientific yet psychologically fraught, blending bureaucratic process (military reporting) with mythological allusion and emotional unraveling. The horrors are described with clinical detail, but bleed into existential and personal terror, culminating in a cathartic, tragic confession.
This episode of The Magnus Archives delivers a harrowing, stand-alone horror story with an epic scale, yet focuses on the trauma, guilt, and powerlessness of the investigator caught between personal grief and cosmic monstrosity. “Gigantomachia” stands as a meditation on the limits of understanding, the punishment of those who survive, and the futility of seeking closure in the face of incomprehensible, eldritch calamity.
For listeners who missed the episode: