The Eye

The Eye
Entity inspired Tarot by Grace Holsten
Aliases	Beholding The Ceaseless Watcher It Knows You
Fears	Scopophobia (Being watched) Ommetaphobia (Eyes) Having secrets revealed Horrible knowledge Being exposed Being judged
Manifestations	Eyes Books Libraries Security cameras A figure that keeps constant watch

"Being watched, being followed, having your deepest secrets exposed. Needing to know, even if your discoveries might destroy you. The feeling that something, somewhere, is letting you suffer, just so it can watch."
- Gerard Keay, MAG 111

The Eye is one of The Entities. It is the manifestation of the fear of being watched, exposed, followed, of having secrets known, but also the drive to know and understand, even if your discoveries might destroy you.

The Eye is one of the main entities of the series, being the power behind the Magnus Institute, influencing its members and granting some powers. 

It is the entity that grants the Archivist, a position currently held by Jonathan Sims, the ability to ask a question and compel the listener to answer. Being in the presence of an Archivist also allows statement givers to speak coherently about their supernatural experiences.  

ATTENTION! SPOILERS AHEAD!! This article contains information from later episodes of The Magnus Archives and may contain major spoilers for the setting and plot. Continue at your own risk.

Episodes

Technically, every episode deals with the Eye as its influence is felt throughout the Institute and its employees, so this list should be limited to when the contents of the statement itself concern The Eye. Episodes that only mention or take place in the Archives or the institute do not belong on this list, and episodes related to powers of avatars of The Eye (such as John's compulsion or Elias's memory insertion) are listed under 'other appearances'.

• MAG 12: First Aid (Gerard Keay)
• MAG 23: Schwartzwald (Albrecht von Closen)
• MAG 53: Crusader (Serapeum of Alexandria)
• MAG 60: Observer Effect (Hand mirror)
• MAG 92: Nothing Beside Remains (Jonah Magnus)
• MAG 120: Eye Contact (The Archivist, Elias Bouchard)
• MAG 127: Remains to be Seen (Albrecht von Closen)
• MAG 138: The Architecture of Fear (Jonah Magnus)
• MAG 142: Scrutiny (The Archivist)
• MAG 148: Extended Surveillance (Instruction manual)
• MAG 154: Bloody Mary (Mary Keay, Eric Delano)
• MAG 158: Panopticon (The Panopticon, The Archivist, Jonah Magnus)
• MAG 160: The Eye Opens (The Archivist, Jonah Magnus)
• MAG 186: Quiet (Domain, Martin Blackwood)
• MAG 188: Centre of Attention (Domain)
• MAG 189: Peers (Domain)
• MAG 192: An Appointment (Domain, Statement, Jonah Magnus, Past Archivists)
• MAG 193: A Stern Look (Jonah Magnus, Statement)
• MAG 194: Parting (Statement)
• MAG 200: Last Words (Jonah Magnus, The Archivist)

Other Appearances

• MAG 4: Page Turner (Mary Keay)
• MAG 39: Infestation (Jonathan Sims)
• MAG 40: Human Remains (Gertrude Robinson)
• MAG 41: Too Deep (Jonathan Sims)
• MAG 51: High Pressure (Artefact)
• MAG 61: Hard Shoulder (Jonathan Sims, Compulsion)
• MAG 62: First Edition (Mary Keay)
• MAG 79: Hide and Seek (Jonathan Sims)
• MAG 80: The Librarian (Elias Bouchard)
• MAG 82: The Eyewitnesses (Elias Bouchard)
• MAG 89: Twice as Bright (Jonathan Sims, Compulsion)
• MAG 102: Nesting Instinct (Elias Bouchard)
• MAG 105: Total War (Pu Songling Research Centre)
• MAG 106: A Matter Of Perspective (Elias Bouchard, Memory Insertion)
• MAG 111: Family Business (Gerard Keay)
• MAG 117: Testament (Jonathan Sims)
• MAG 118: The Masquerade (Elias Bouchard, Memory Insertion)
• MAG 119: Stranger and Stranger (Jonathan Sims)
• MAG 121: Far Away (Jonathan Sims/The Archivist)
• MAG 122: Zombie (The Archivist, feeding)
• MAG 125: Civilian Casualties (The Archivist)
• MAG 128: Heavy Goods (The Archivist, Compulsion)
• MAG 129: Submerged
• MAG 161: Dwelling
• MAG 183: Monument (Partial Domain)
• MAG 191: What We Lose (Past Archivists)

Characters

• The Archivist: An avatar of the Eye that has the power to take statements, compel people to answer their questions, and sometimes 'know' things they otherwise would not have known.
  • Angus Stacey
  • Gertrude Robinson
  • Jonathan Sims
• Jonah Magnus: Founder of the Magnus Institute and an avatar of the Eye with the ability to view any events or thoughts at will, as well as the ability to place information into other peoples' minds. By placing his eyes into the head of someone else, he takes control of their body, ensuring that he is always the 'heart of the institute'.
  • Richard Mendelson, previous body of Jonah Magnus
  • James Wright, previous body of Jonah Magnus
  • Elias Bouchard, final body of Jonah Magnus
• Archival assistants, who do not seem to receive powers but are bound to the Institute and would supposedly die if the Head did. Anyone who signs an employment contract is bound to the institute and cannot leave, until the death of the Archivist they are working for.
  • Martin Blackwood
  • Sasha James
  • Timothy Stoker
  • Basira Hussain
  • Melanie King
  • Alice "Daisy" Tonner
  • Michael Shelley (prior to being merged with The Distortion)
  • Eric Delano
  • Emma Harvey
  • Fiona Law
  • Sarah Carpenter
• Gerard Keay: Son of Mary Keay and Eric Delano, freelance coworker to Gertrude Robinson. He created a painting of an eye, had eye tattoos that seemed to provide some protection against the effects of other powers, and occasionally seemed to demonstrate knowledge he should not naturally have in a way similar to that of the Archivist.
• Mary Keay: She stated that she could never be loyal to just one entity, however, she grew up connected to The Magnus Institute through her mother and her son seemed connected to The Eye. Her constant search for books, knowledge, and power is reminiscent of The Eye's drive for knowledge.
• Albrecht von Closen: Ancestor of Mary Keay and friend of Jonah Magnus, owned a manor and library in the Schwartzwald.
• Rosie Zampano: Due to her curious nature and working under Elias for so long, Rosie became connected to The Eye and served as the receptionist for Elias in the Panopticon.
• Sparksfly.com (possibly): While never explicitly confirmed to be connected to the Eye, this dating site is actively designed around the violation of privacy, and at least implied to have unexplained knowledge of its customers. A similar but unnamed Eye-Aligned dating site appears in MAG-194.

Artefacts

• A hand mirror that, when looked at, shows a creature right behind the holder. Even after dropping the mirror and breaking its glass, the presence of that creature can still be felt.
• An instruction manual for a security camera that had images of its readers within it. After reading it extensively, the reader becomes part of the security system, every camera feeling like an eye of the reader looking back at them.
• Rock Eye: An eye carved out of rock that interferes with video cameras unless kept in its black velvet bag.

Locations

• The Magnus Institute, London, UK
• The Panopticon of Millbank Prison
• The Usher Foundation, Washington D.C., US
• Pu Songling Research Centre, Beijing, China
• The Serapeum of Alexandria
• The tomb of Johann von Württemberg, near Schramberg, Germany
• Martin's Domain, a domain that is a mix of The Lonely and the Eye. Inhabited by a few people who fear that no one will ever know of them, that they shall suffer in silence, and be mourned by nobody.
• London, the seat of power for The Eye in the new world. It feeds on the fear of being constantly watched, by camera and people alike, and each of them judging you with every action you take.

Ritual

The Eye's ritual is called "The Watcher's Crown." Using the Panopticon in Millbank Prison, Jonah Magnus attempted the ritual at some point during the 19th century. The ritual ultimately failed but granted him semi-omniscience in the process.

Later, in 2018, Jonah Magnus attempts a new ritual to bring through every aspect of fear after theorizing that it was impossible to bring a single Entity into existence on its own. The Archivist, marked by encounters with every fear, is tricked by Jonah into completing the ritual, bringing about the Change.

Connections to other entities

Other characters and avatars in the world, such as Jude Perry, have criticized the Eye, seeing it as an entity of great power that does very little and seems content only with feeding its thirst for knowledge. Perry even states it cannot stop The Desolation from winning and will leave it a burned-out blind eye by the end.

• Gertrude Robinson, the previous archivist, had a streak of stopping the other entities' rituals. She was known and even sometimes feared by the entities and their followers, putting a lot of negative attention on the institute. Many other entities dislike The Eye for this reason, with agents of The Corruption, The Dark, The Flesh and The Web all been noted to be watching the Archives, with some even making direct assaults upon it. 
  • Gertrude stopped the rituals of The Flesh, The Buried, The Spiral, The Lonely, and The Desolation.
  • Agents of The Eye later stopped The Unknowing, the ritual of The Stranger, giving it yet another enemy.
• The Eye is somewhat allied with The Lonely, with Elias Bouchard and Peter Lukas being acquaintances. Elias later leaves the position of 'head of the institute' to Peter. However, much like The Dark and The Buried, The Lonely by definition renders its victims less "seen" by the world, and so is at loggerheads with The Eye.