The Ministry of Time

Time travel takes place with the help of special doors. It remains unclear why exactly these doors are able to transport those passing through them to another era.

The existence of the doors of time has been known for a very long time. Until the end of the XV century, a book with a list of doors was kept in the Semitic library and replenished by Jewish employees. The library was destroyed in a fire, but one of the rabbis saved the "Book of Doors" and gave it to Queen Isabella, a Catholic. Most of the famous doors in the present are assembled in the building of the Ministry of Time, but how they were delivered there is unknown.

Each door leads to its own time, and there are two types of doors. Most doors move people for a certain (and, apparently, permanent) period, so that time moves the same on both sides of the door. Others lead to a specific day, and after that day in the past, the portal in time closes and the door loses its properties forever. In the present, the door continues to function, allowing you to move into the past (on the same day) an infinite number of times, while each time events are triggered anew, people in the past do not remember anything about previous iterations (unlike time travelers), and only the latest version affects the course of world history.

Usually the doors are located in the walls, but other options are possible: a closet, a confessional, etc. In such cases, the door is mobile, it can be carried along with the object in which it is built.

Time travelers passing through the doors can carry clothes and other things with them. The Ministry somehow managed to ensure the operation of modern technology and even communication systems (devices similar to cell phones) in the past.

Being in our modern time (the first season of the series was released in 2015), you can only move into the past, because the future does not exist yet. At the same time, there are different versions of the Ministry of Time in different epochs, but the modern one is considered "the main and the last" for us.

Towards the end of the first season, it turns out that time travel is possible not only with the help of doors controlled by the Ministry. An American company has invented its own way: travelers pass through a tunnel, and the date they enter is controlled by the company's employees. Such travelers do not need doors in the past either: they use a bracelet that takes them to the present at the touch of a button. For observers in the past, they disappear into thin air at this moment, like ghosts. In the second season, it turns out that this method of time travel is not safe: when passing through a tunnel, a person receives a dose of radiation, which inevitably kills him over time.

In the sixth episode of the second season, the character Houdini appears, who has the ability to move himself and a small group of people in time and space, though not very far.

The series shows other time-related anomalies. So, in the last episode of the first season, one of the main characters, being in the present, sees an unfamiliar man in a dream. Going on a mission, he meets this person in the past, and it turns out that he had the same dream. The reasons for this phenomenon are not disclosed.

It should be noted that the narrative of the series is somewhat confused and does not allow you to build both a clear picture of what is happening and to understand the laws under which the Ministry exists. Its purpose is to prevent changes in the present that may occur as a result of accidental or intentional changes in the past. On the one hand, his employees do everything not to change the past – but at the same time, their very presence in another period of time is the reason for most of the changes they have to deal with. It is forbidden to bring things from other eras with you – but everyone does it all the time. Some of the people from the past who played a significant role in the history of Spain know not only about the existence of the Ministry, but also about their own fate or the fate of their loved ones – and this is obviously considered permissible and should not affect the course of history.

A lot of questions are also raised by plots related to time travel, during which cause-and-effect relationships are repeatedly grossly violated in almost every series. So, very often, Ministry employees in the present find out that something happened in the past that could change the course of history, and try to fix it - despite the fact that for them a new version of events that happened a long time ago should be the main interpretation of history.

The series tells a widely spread legend in Spain about a "House with seven chimneys", in which ghosts are allegedly often found. And they even show a photo of one of them as proof. However, in fact, the photo shows an employee of the Ministry of Time, mistaken for a ghost.

In the sixth episode of the second season, Joaquin Argamasilla is introduced into the cast of the series – a person who has the ability to see through opaque objects (boxes, clothes, etc.). This ability is called metasomoscopy, but in the series Joaquin is often referred to simply as "rengen man". This character is based on a real person who lived in Spain at the beginning of the 19th century, whose name was Joaquin Maria Argamacilla de la Cerda y Elio.

In the series, Joaquin's abilities are shown to actually exist. During the demonstration of their capabilities Houdini, he deliberately chooses five empty boxes instead of five boxes containing feathers. As a result, Houdini recognizes his abilities – in reality, Houdini noticed some details from which it can be concluded that it was just a trick.

Houdini in the series has the ability to move himself and a small group of people in time and space, though not very far.

The heroine of the series conducts a seance, trying to contact her friend, not knowing whether he is alive or not. During the session, a special tablet with a pencil installed in it starts to move spontaneously and prints the word "Houdini" on paper. At the same moment, thunder rumbles, and a gust of wind sweeps through the locked room, blowing out the candles.

In the tenth episode of the second season, a woman in the past sees inscriptions appear on the walls that help her reach the door of time. Based on the explanations of other characters, these inscriptions were made by the same woman who came from an even earlier past, which, however, does not explain their unexpected appearance.

In the third episode of the third season, two ministry agents are "bewitched" by a witch who heads a satanic cult. Their will is completely suppressed, they carry out all the orders of the cult's supporters, including participating in a night sabbath, during which it is planned to sacrifice a baby.

Later it turns out that the cult ministers manage to achieve such an effect with the help of the mandrake root, which they add to the water. The ministry agent who boiled the water was not exposed.