Oliver Banks is an avatar of The End. He sees black tendrils tied to people who are about to die.
He originally foresaw people's deaths in dreams in which the person appeared approximately ten days before their death. Around 2014 (possibly as early as late 2013), he started seeing the tendrils while awake as well.
Description[]
He has been described as "tall, black and careworn, deep lines of worry etched into an otherwise handsome face".[1]
History[]
Circa 2000-2006[]
Oliver had a boyfriend named Graham[2] starting in 2000 or 2001. They dated for six years, eventually living together, and subsequently broke up prior to 2007. He moved to London around 2005 to do his undergraduate degree at the London School of Economics and started working at Barclays directly after graduating. However, the stress and problems in his personal life drove him to a nervous breakdown after barely a year and led to a "rather dramatic" departure from his job in around 2007. He started having prophetic dreams of people's death soon after.
Circa 2013[]
By 2015, Oliver was working in a magick shop selling crystals and tarot cards.
Jane Prentiss mentions him coming to the Good Energies spiritual supplies shop in Archway where she worked and looking at her with deep sadness, and once fear.[3]
In Autumn 2013, Jennifer Ling saw Oliver staring at her from the doorway of a small shop in Soho whose sign read "Crystals. Books. Tarot". He then walked up to her and asked what she was listening to though she was not wearing headphones. When she told him so, he muttered something about her needing to protect her hearing and walked back into the shop. It's likely he saw the black tendrils coming from her ears.[1]
March 2015[]
In March 2015, Oliver went to The Magnus Institute to give a statement about seeing Gertrude's predicted death. He gave his statement under the fake name "Antonio Blake."[4]
Mid-2015 to 2018[]
Oliver assumed the identity of a chemist and boarded an unnamed research vessel in the hopes of getting some restful sleep. Near the end of the trip, he noticed black vines curling around himself and everyone else on the vessel. He used a gun to kill the captain and then forces the crew to go to a specified spot, at which point a falling satellite crashed into them at 200mph, killing them all instantly.[5]
2018[]
Oliver gives his statement about his trip to Point Nemo to a comatose John. He claims that The Web has sent him, and he encourages John to choose whether to live or die.
Georgie encounters him as he is leaving. He calls himself Antonio Blake again, and Georgie is extremely curt with him, recognizing him as an avatar of The End and claiming he "reminds her of someone" who was "evil."[5]
Post-Change[]
Sometime after The Change, Oliver gains his own domain, the Corpse Roots. When John and Martin pass through his domain, he gives The Archivist another statement and theorises on issues regarding the nature of the ruined world.[6]
Episode Appearances[]
Oliver Banks has appeared in the following episodes. Bold marks episodes where he has given a statement.
| Appearances |
|---|
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 MAG 42: Grifter's Bone
- ↑ Noted in the Season 5 Q&A - Part 3 that this was indeed intended to be Graham Folger from MAG 3.
- ↑ MAG 32: Hive
- ↑ MAG 11: Dreamer
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 MAG 121: Far Away
- ↑ MAG 168: Roots