#for Jude though I think she did genuinely care about Agnes she still puts her on a pedestal and sees her as an extension of their god

[abelllia]

hello. i have a question. why did agnes kiss that guy? the coffee shop guy, i mean. at first it seemed like poetic parting gesture from a creature who’s existence is greater than that of a regular person, so his pain and suffering don’t matter. but then we learn that agnes somewhat cared for him and didn’t want him to get hurt by others.. so why put him through that pain and eventual disfiguration? she knew people can’t touch her, she knew what would happen to him. so why..?

Hmmm to be honest, I don't quite know. I myself have not yet started Season 5 so if there's an answer from there then I don't know it yet. I'll answer with my personal interpretation instead.

It's pretty darn long so if you want to skip, I put a short tl;dr at the end of the thing under the conga line of equation marks. Also spoilers!

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I think it was an act of impulse and rebellion. A moment carried by emotions. From what we know of Agnes's story based on secondhand accounts, she was seen and praised as the chosen one. Weighed down by the title of messiah from the moment of her birth to the hour of her death. The one who shall carry the Desolation through and bring about the Scorched Earth. And...that's it. We don't know much of her personality beyond that, since to the people around her (The Cult) a messiah was simply what she was. Arthur Nolan reflects on this in MAG 145 when asked about what Agnes was like. Arthur Nolan, one of the cult members who practically raised Agnes *didn't know what she was like*. All her life, Agnes Montague was merely an idol for her people. A leader to follow until their destined day. She was following a path laid out to her before her time. She wasn't a person. Not to them. She was something greater than herself.

Enter Coffee Boy Jack Barnabas, a nobody who knows nothing about Eldritch gods and destiny or fate. A guy who looked at a woman who can boil coffee with her hands and went "Yeah, I want to date her.", even when warned that she was dangerous. A guy that just saw her as someone. Someone that he wants to get to know better and form a personal, non-eldritch, connection with.

And that's exactly what they did. They went on dates together and got to know each other. They talked, walked at the park, went to the movies, and just generally acted like a couple of young people hanging out. Agnes "Ms. Aloof and Above-it-All" Montague was just hanging out with this rando from the coffee shop. We even get a bit of information here of what she thinks of her grand destiny and from the looks of it, she didn't like it. In the statement, Jack recalled Agnes doing behaviour that would normally be considered bizarre and just...laughed fondly. Jack truly and genuinely liked *her*. And it seemed she liked him back.

Then, of course, the tree fell during the middle of their date and Agnes had to die. Jack helped Agnes walk back to her flat where the rest of the cult were. Once more, Agnes is the Desolation's messiah, here to have one last goodbye with her followers before she returns to the cosmic entity she is, was, and will be eternally bound to. Then as she bids farewell to Barnabas, he looks to her and asks her, against all logic, if he could kiss her.

On her deathbed, as one final "fuck it", Agnes Montague did not what Agnes, the messiah, was supposed to do, but what Agnes, the person, wanted. She kissed him back.

And yeah I guess she didn't think it through and burned his whole face off which was...not great? But it was a decision that was all Agnes. It was not something she needed to do, not something asked by the cult, not something asked by Gertrude, but something she *chose*. Choice is a pretty big theme in TMA though I don't know the conclusion yet because *waves at not having listened to S5 yet.* Agnes chosing to kiss Jack is a really big thing for her and I think is one of the only things she was truly able to choose for herself. The theme of choice is added on to at the end of the episode as well with Barnabas. He mentions that though the facial burns did a huge number on him and his life, he says he's not sure if he would have done anything differently if given the chance, the choice, to. He says that he's like a moth, drawn to the flame.

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Tl;dr: I think Agnes did it as one final middle finger to the universe, the concept of destiny, and being a gifted kid. She did it because she wanted to and that's that.

#abellasks #heyyy new tag! #tma #abellrambles #the magnus archives #Agnes Montague #tma spoilers #Jack Barnabas #MAG 67 #I have thoughts but idk how to articulate them #thinking about how the MAG title 'Burning Desire' applies not just to Jack but to Agnes too in my pov #Agnes is just such an intriguing character #she's a gifted kid but the gift is the ability to destroy the world #how fun! #for Jude though I think she did genuinely care about Agnes she still puts her on a pedestal and sees her as an extension of their god #for Gertrude idk I haven't listened to s5 yet WEEEEEE #Jack Barnabas is truly the king of simps for this and I love him for it #this guy watched Agnes nearly burn a guy and went *sheesh face* #like....bro- #anyways I have plenty of thoughts go brrrrrr #The Desolation