Podcast Summary: The Magnus Archives – RQ Network Feed Drop – Remnants Ep. 1
Original Release: December 10, 2025
Host: Rusty Quill Network
Featured Show: Remnants, Episode 1 – Created by Aira Major

Overview

This special Magnus Archives feed drop introduces the first episode of Remnants, a dark fantasy audio drama from acclaimed creator Aira Major (Spirit Box Radio, Not Quite Dead). The narrative centers on an apprentice tasked with sorting the "remnants" of those who have passed—objects and memories that linger after death—with no clear criteria for deciding what is worth preserving. The episode weaves a haunting, dreamlike fable about legacy, authenticity, and the stories we leave behind.

Key Discussion Points & Story Beats

1. Opening: The Nature of Remnants

• Setting: An ambiguous, eldritch archive filled with mysterious boxes.
• Characters: An unnamed apprentice (D) and their enigmatic mentor (C).
• Inciting Incident:
  • The apprentice is given a box to process—no instructions, only the word "return" stamped on the side.
  • Tasked to "read" a porcelain teacup found inside (03:00), unsure how to interpret its meaning (03:06).
  • Quote (C, 02:54): "You have to read it."
  • Quote (D, 03:13): "Now I just need to figure out how to read a teacup."

2. The Story of Celine: A Life in Remnants

A nested tale, conjured or "read" from the teacup, follows the life of Celine, whose story unfolds as a series of vignettes across decades:

a. Childhood and Family (04:44–07:20)

• Celine: Lonely child, daughter of a struggling painter; marginalized by peers.
• Her father sells paintings attributed to her, falsely touting her as a prodigy.
• Vivid imagery: Aerial of poverty, performance, and longing for recognition.
• Memorable Moment (D, 04:44): "A little girl watches children playing on the beach. She wants to join them, but she won't. She never does..."

b. Adolescence: Skill and Survival (07:20–09:45)

• Celine surpasses her father in skill, forges her own art while copying his style, and navigates a world mired in economic hardship and deception.
• She resorts to petty theft to survive.
• Questions of authenticity: Is the value in the thing itself, or in the story attached to it?
• Notable Quote (D, 09:00): "People buying the shards weren't experts… they just wanted a little piece of the story to take home with them."

c. Maturity: Fakes and Truths (11:59–19:43)

• Celine paints forgeries, sells them to collectors, and cons soldiers during WWII.
• Interactions with clients reveal class struggles, vulnerability, and the way art traffics in both beauty and lies.
• The psychological toll of her double life: Celine is both empowered and isolated.
• Tense Scene: Encounter with a Nazi officer (16:37), underscoring the perilous stakes for women and survivors in wartime Paris.
• Striking Image (D, 18:22): "With every careful brushstroke, Celine is filled with more and more envy... She does not cry."

d. Aftermath and Legacy (19:43–26:59)

• Post-war, Celine faces public shaming, reinvents herself as a resourceful art dealer and forger.
• Relationship with son Benoit: A bittersweet moment of maternal love, shadowed by secrets of his parentage.
• Celine’s longing for recognition and authenticity persists—her name remains invisible behind masterpiece forgeries.
• Her recurring affair with Lord de Perrier becomes a metaphor for her ambiguous, in-between existence; both are defined by roles, masks, and denied truths.
• Philosophical Insight (D, 24:36): "Reality is all about believing. The truth has nothing to do with reality."

e. Climax: The Final Remnant (26:48–27:32)

• In Valencia, a sense of closure and emptiness: The only thing left in a lover’s house is a teacup, echoing the story’s beginning.
• A moment of violence and disorientation blurs memory and present, reality and dream.
• Haunting Final Image (D, 27:32): "There is a crack of cold pain on the back of Silly Ted. Her vision flashes white. She hears the teacup shatter on the tile floor…"

3. Frame Again: The Apprentice’s Dilemma (27:54–28:31)

• The apprentice returns to the world of the archive, asked whether to "shelve or discard" what has been witnessed.
• The criteria for these choices remain elusive; the uncertainty becomes both a narrative device and a core theme.
• Key Exchange:
  • (C, 27:58): "Shelve or discard?"
  • (D, 28:18): "What's the criteria I'm using to make this decision?"
  • (C, 28:23): "Ah, I see. Well, I didn't think of that. We shall try again."

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You have to read it." – Mentor (C), explaining the inscrutable archive's process (02:54)
• "People buying the shards weren't experts… they just wanted a little piece of the story to take home with them." – Celine’s perspective on authenticity and meaning (09:00)
• "Reality is all about believing. The truth has nothing to do with reality." – Celine, on forgeries and identity (24:36)
• "When finally she reaches a fence where her father has tied up her paintings to sell him, she sees him... His eyes are staring at Celine, but he's looking through her at some scene Selene knows only the dead can see." – The death of Celine’s father, marking her true isolation (10:26)
• "The paintings are not mine, she answers. If they were, nobody would love them." – Celine, accepting invisibility as the price for survival (25:30)
• The shattering teacup, a recurring symbol, connecting the material and memory (27:32)

Important Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|-----------------------| | 01:32–03:13 | Archive, mysterious box, instruction to "read" the teacup | | 04:44–19:43 | The story of Celine: from childhood, through survival, art, forgeries, and war | | 19:43–21:22 | Postwar struggles, maternal bond with Benoit | | 21:22–26:48 | Affair with de Perrier, legacy, final encounters | | 26:48–27:32 | Climax in Valencia, returning to the teacup | | 27:54–28:31 | Return to apprentice; the unsolved choice of "shelve or discard" |

Tone & Style

• Literary, atmospheric, and richly textured. The language is poetic, immersive, at points dreamlike and tragic.
• The episode balances detached narration with emotional intimacy, especially through the lens of Celine’s internal struggles.

Final Thoughts

Remnants Ep. 1 artfully explores themes of meaning, identity, memory, and the arbitrariness of what endures (and what is forgotten). The framing device evokes the existential uncertainty of judgment, both within the archive and through the details of Celine’s life. The episode stands as both an evocative parable and a compelling introduction to the wider series.

To hear more of Remnants, search “Remnants” and “Audio Drama” wherever you get your podcasts, or visit hangingslothstudios.com/remnants.