I like how Narset's obsession with "the Truth" ties nicely back to Sarkhan's own journey a couple of URs back.
I also find this current depiction of Ojutai more likeable than in Khanfall. It's less nineteen eighty-four "Big Brother" white-blue and more, well, Great Teacher. It's a bit problematic for me, though, to see him do a 180 turn from banning all knowledge of past Tarkir to being chill with Narset knowing the truth
Well, over a thousand years have passed. Perhaps he's learned the error of his ways, and sees his new "subjects" as individuals seeking guidance and meaning?
Well, a millenia would change a lot of things. If Silumgar can decide to rock jewelry in Tarkir 1.1, it's plausible that Ojutai mellow out. It's still a bit jarring for me as a reader, though, to see his characterization change so much in a span of weeks, even if it's been a thousand years in the story.
You guys called it: Narset is indeed a Planeswalker. and She did indeed stumble across the old scrolls. Nice call on those.
Interesting that there's no red in her card. Her restlessness in KTK was a dsire for freedom, and now it has been shifted to a desire for knowledge. Interesting.
I can see her as being a more useful (storywise) version of Tamiyo (because who wants to read about rabbit planeswalekrs). it also seems as if Ojutai knew that sooner or later somebody was going to find out the truth about how he came into power, and oddly, he seems cool with it. I guess people (and dijin and efreets and aven and whatever)[/i]knowing[/i] what happened doesn't necessarily equate to them actually [i]doing[/i] anything about it, so no real threat there. or maybe he's just not that afraid of Ugin?
So the question with Narset 1.1 is, when she "lets go" at the end, is she letting go of her pursuit of knowledge, or of her dependence on Ojutai? (Maybe Ojutai has mellowed with age...) Or maybe letting go of a dream of a perfect Tarkir. On the other hand, her regarding Ojutai's presence as making Tarkir better...I wonder what will result once she and Vol meet. (Of course, the letting go might just be letting herself actually planeswalk. Maybe she'll wind up on Kamigawa and meet its not-so-proud dragons...)
In my own private view of Magic's storyline since KTK surfaced, I always thought we needed a successor to Venser as UW planeswalker, and that Narset would perfectly fit the job. I don't want to enter the game of "I called it!" and such, I'm just grateful Wizards made this happen. Her abilities are subtle, very UW and her story as well. Great job.
This might be the best UR for me in KTK so far. Narset being a fidgety, child prodigy is cute. In many ways, she reminds me of a level-headed Korra, both in childhood and as an adult. Ojutai either really mellowed out in the 1300 years or his attack was merely a burst of vengeance for his fallen comrades and he was always a decent dragon. Even though he didn't react the way I thought he would when Narset found out about the past, it was the best solution. If he showed any outrage to Narset, it might have compelled her to do something with that knowledge, to Ojutai's detriment. Plus, she was his best student and she made many impressions upon him, being his youngest student to achieve master status to date.
The thought of Ojutai doing tai-chi and kung-fu sounds amazing if what Narset says is true (her mimicking his movements and all). He even has his paws in a prayer pose in one of the arts! Also, dat counterspell-flick. I hope that card will be playable. I will be more than happy with a Negate reprint with that art.
Oh and Taigam is still scum. Looks like some things still haven't changed.
I really liked this Uncharted Realms. It shows us that Ojutai is exactly what we know he is (an ********) but also why he has followers.
Are you sure? I thought it softened Ojutai significantly. His reaction to her finding out the truth was to encourage her further.
If he were that okay with the truth then there would be something about Ojutai that was actually true. In the entire story the only trait Ojutai claims that isn't shown to be an outright lie is that he's a dragon. The whole set up makes me of Plato's Republic mixed with Buddhism. Everyone is taught that Ojutai is supreme and that humans have served dragons since the dawn of time because he feels that "noble lie" will bring about order and encourage the pursuit of enlightenment. He isn't brutal or cruel but he is exactly as fascist as in Khanfall.
I think there's a direct line between Great Teacher and Big Brother here although I see people disagreeing with that. After all in 1984 everybody loved Big Brother, that was the whole point.
I really liked this Uncharted Realms. It shows us that Ojutai is exactly what we know he is (an ********) but also why he has followers.
Are you sure? I thought it softened Ojutai significantly. His reaction to her finding out the truth was to encourage her further.
If he were that okay with the truth then there would be something about Ojutai that was actually true. In the entire story the only trait Ojutai claims that isn't shown to be an outright lie is that he's a dragon. The whole set up makes me of Plato's Republic mixed with Buddhism. Everyone is taught that Ojutai is supreme and that humans have served dragons since the dawn of time because he feels that "noble lie" will bring about order and encourage the pursuit of enlightenment. He isn't brutal or cruel but he is exactly as fascist as in Khanfall.
I think there's a direct line between Great Teacher and Big Brother here although I see people disagreeing with that. After all in 1984 everybody loved Big Brother, that was the whole point.
If he had punished/killed Narset for finding the scrolls, then he would have been like Big Brother, but he encouraged her. The way I see it, forbidding others from reading the scrolls is more like a test to see who truly seeks enlightenment.
I really liked this Uncharted Realms. It shows us that Ojutai is exactly what we know he is (an ********) but also why he has followers.
Are you sure? I thought it softened Ojutai significantly. His reaction to her finding out the truth was to encourage her further.
If he were that okay with the truth then there would be something about Ojutai that was actually true. In the entire story the only trait Ojutai claims that isn't shown to be an outright lie is that he's a dragon. The whole set up makes me of Plato's Republic mixed with Buddhism. Everyone is taught that Ojutai is supreme and that humans have served dragons since the dawn of time because he feels that "noble lie" will bring about order and encourage the pursuit of enlightenment. He isn't brutal or cruel but he is exactly as fascist as in Khanfall.
I think there's a direct line between Great Teacher and Big Brother here although I see people disagreeing with that. After all in 1984 everybody loved Big Brother, that was the whole point.
I think that's a fair portrayal of the society he's crafted, but Narset in this case committed multiple thoughtcrimes. It led to the discovery of forbidden documents that tell of the eradication of the Jeskai clan. This knowledge undermines one of the premises of his society. Yet we did not see Ojutai whisk Narset away to the Ministry of Love to be re-educated. Maybe there's more to the story from this point, but I found the Ojutai's reaction to the situation to be much different than what I anticipated.
Now that I think of it, are we actually told how much time elapsed between Narset learning of Ojutai's role in the destruction of the khanates and her first planeswalking? Because even the most shattering truths can take time to be internalized (like how grief's first stage is typically denial). That's why I'm hoping her first planeswalk is to Kamigawa, to meet the dragons and kirin that actually do classify as unsinister fonts of wisdom (I'm not so sure about the myojin, though). Or maybe even Ravnica, where she can meet Niv-Mizzet, who's grandiose, but honest about it.
I really liked this. What Ojutai did in Khanfall was pragmatic, to ensure his and his kind's survival. On top of that, he honored Shu Yun's deal and carried out his terms. So, not tyrannical.
From a human on tarkir's perspective, I could see why people thought he was a tyrant or would punish Narset. Otherwise, not surprised that he isn't that.
There's still the problem of hiding Ugin's very existence, though. He may not be vicious like Silumgar, but he's still being deceitful. When he told Quan that "your history begins now", he pretty clearly meant it. Ojutai may well be a Well-Intentioned Extremist, but an extremist of newspeak all the same.
I have a feeling that the broodlords are really determined to keep Tarkir ignorant of anything that didn't know dragon primacy (pre-Crux was more of a deadlock, remember). At the very least, Ojutai's going to be rather upset when Ugin is reawakened. Of course, this is post-Mending--Ojutai might start grinning again when it turns out that Ugin's power has been circumscribed by the Mending.
I really liked this. What Ojutai did in Khanfall was pragmatic, to ensure his and his kind's survival. On top of that, he honored Shu Yun's deal and carried out his terms. So, not tyrannical.
From a human on tarkir's perspective, I could see why people thought he was a tyrant or would punish Narset. Otherwise, not surprised that he isn't that.
Ensure his kind's survival? This is simply not true. The dragon tempests were increasing, not ceasing, as in the previous timeline. There was no threat to the dragons at all from the Khans.
Ok the other uncharted realms made her look like she was banished for rebelling against the Ojutai. No, Ojutai wanted her to do that and with his blessing, Narset is literally broadening her horizons while Sarkhan is yelling at Ugin's hedron over what Taigam claims. Taigam you're a jerk you know that?
The way I interpret this is that Ojutai originally wanted the scrolls destroyed right after he put the Dragonfire Warriors to death. However, he couldn't bring himself to destroy the records so he had them hidden and buried and forbade the knowledge. As the eons went on and he continued to train the former Jeskai (he actually seems able to stand on his hind legs and has just a humanoid enough body shape to actually teach martial arts to humanoid races) he developed a sort of respect for them. Overtime as he helped others seek enlightenment he began to see problems with the world he'd created but realized that fixing it would reveal his past and the things he now considers mistakes of his youth. One could make the interpretation that he's now trapped between his desire to teach his students and his old lies. Narset's discovery of the past and her ascension may have been a weight of a certain type off of his shoulders. Every teacher's greatest desire is that their student surpasses them of course.
Of course, it doesn't change the fact that he's still plenty jerkish by our standards since he won't admit to the past mistake and I'm still mad at him for forbidding the knowledge in the first place when he could have worked with Shu Yun 1280 years ago and turned the Jeskai into something beyond either of their solo visions! (yes I'm still miffed about that.)
I really liked this. What Ojutai did in Khanfall was pragmatic, to ensure his and his kind's survival. On top of that, he honored Shu Yun's deal and carried out his terms. So, not tyrannical.
From a human on tarkir's perspective, I could see why people thought he was a tyrant or would punish Narset. Otherwise, not surprised that he isn't that.
Ensure his kind's survival? This is simply not true. The dragon tempests were increasing, not ceasing, as in the previous timeline. There was no threat to the dragons at all from the Khans.
They nipped the threat of an allied clan coalition. That's responding to a threat. Just because the threat was diffused doesn't mean it wasn't a threat. Either the Khans come into power, or the dragons. That's been the framework of this block, if you've been following.
I really liked this. What Ojutai did in Khanfall was pragmatic, to ensure his and his kind's survival. On top of that, he honored Shu Yun's deal and carried out his terms. So, not tyrannical.
From a human on tarkir's perspective, I could see why people thought he was a tyrant or would punish Narset. Otherwise, not surprised that he isn't that.
Ensure his kind's survival? This is simply not true. The dragon tempests were increasing, not ceasing, as in the previous timeline. There was no threat to the dragons at all from the Khans.
They nipped the threat of an allied clan coalition. That's responding to a threat. Just because the threat was diffused doesn't mean it wasn't a threat. Either the Khans come into power, or the dragons. That's been the framework of this block, if you've been following.
Actually, the framework of the block seems to be that Ugin intended for there to be balance, and tipping the balance either way results in a dark future for Tarkir. It'll be extremely interesting to see what happens when Sarkhan wakes Ugin up, and Ugin sees what has become of his world.
I really liked this. What Ojutai did in Khanfall was pragmatic, to ensure his and his kind's survival. On top of that, he honored Shu Yun's deal and carried out his terms. So, not tyrannical.
From a human on tarkir's perspective, I could see why people thought he was a tyrant or would punish Narset. Otherwise, not surprised that he isn't that.
Ensure his kind's survival? This is simply not true. The dragon tempests were increasing, not ceasing, as in the previous timeline. There was no threat to the dragons at all from the Khans.
They nipped the threat of an allied clan coalition. That's responding to a threat. Just because the threat was diffused doesn't mean it wasn't a threat. Either the Khans come into power, or the dragons. That's been the framework of this block, if you've been following.
Actually, the framework of the block seems to be that Ugin intended for there to be balance, and tipping the balance either way results in a dark future for Tarkir. It'll be extremely interesting to see what happens when Sarkhan wakes Ugin up, and Ugin sees what has become of his world.
I'm picturing Ugin being like Lugia from Pokemon 2000: "I swear, I leave you alone for one millennium and everything gets thrown out of whack..."
Also, Narset still feels Jeskai-colored to me, like how Ajani is Naya-colored but never all on one card...though maybe that's just hope talking. Fun story overall. Ojutai felt a little creepy with the whole "broadcasting 'love me' thoughts across his general vicinity every day" thing: I still don't quite trust him. Both that and how quickly Narset's thoughts changed at the end of the UR seems to point to some sort of direct mental influence, at least to me. Will be interesting to see if Narset stays loyal to Ojutai after inevitably interacting with Sarkhan.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The true measure of all heroes is not what they achieve, but who they inspire." —Triumph of Gerrard
I really liked this. What Ojutai did in Khanfall was pragmatic, to ensure his and his kind's survival. On top of that, he honored Shu Yun's deal and carried out his terms. So, not tyrannical.
From a human on tarkir's perspective, I could see why people thought he was a tyrant or would punish Narset. Otherwise, not surprised that he isn't that.
Ensure his kind's survival? This is simply not true. The dragon tempests were increasing, not ceasing, as in the previous timeline. There was no threat to the dragons at all from the Khans.
They nipped the threat of an allied clan coalition. That's responding to a threat. Just because the threat was diffused doesn't mean it wasn't a threat. Either the Khans come into power, or the dragons. That's been the framework of this block, if you've been following.
Actually, the framework of the block seems to be that Ugin intended for there to be balance, and tipping the balance either way results in a dark future for Tarkir. It'll be extremely interesting to see what happens when Sarkhan wakes Ugin up, and Ugin sees what has become of his world.
Oh for sure. Just stating why it's no surprise to me that Ojutai isn't a huge dick like people seem to have expected. He merely ensured their own survival and dominance. As opposed to extinction that we saw in KTK. It'll be interesting to see Ugin do his Rayquaza thing.
I say from now on we call them neo-elder dragons and see how long before MaRo tries to ban that term. He hated the fact we refer to Jace as a neo-walker.
To be fair, there were people using the term in a somewhat viscous way. But on the other side, WotC does need to fully accept that such intense changes can and will be met with some deserving vitriol.
Doug Beyer's explanation that "these are the elder dragons of Tarkir just like the previous ones were the elder dragons of Dominaria" is satifying enough for me
Except that it is BS. Elder Dragons were not limited to Dominaria, heck, the PREDATE that plane. They waged war across the Multiverse.
Not all elder dragons have to be comparable power-level wise and it's hard to be harsh on WotC considering how far they've come in their stories: I'd rather they not be shackled by what was done 20 years ago by people who didn't really know what they were doing (the guys making Legends). People who care about the story are getting a bit of a bone thrown at us (clearly the Tarkir edler dragons are very powerful: both the ones we've seen punish planeswalkers cards), it's nice to have bad-ass dragons that matter once again outside of Bolas.
Except that we are talking about a whole different RACE. The Elder Dragons were intrinsic part of the lore. Thanks to Bolas being still around, the term is not an obscure reference to old days, but a term that is in people's minds. Heck, these guys have even a FORMAT named for them (just kidding). And the term has a very specific meaning until Monday. If the guys who made Legends chose different name for the race, much confusion could have been avoided (Urdragons? Draco-Ancestors...etc.)
People asking questions is fine and expecting reasonnable answers is also fine; I feel we were given a reasonnable explanation as to why the term was used.
We were given an explanation, and also a honest admission that they know they were kind of betraying the lore and people who hold it dear.
As for the UR, they were very nic. This new girl writes really well.
The Ojutai portrayed here was what I expected him to be when FRF was spoiled. I was very, very surprised how he came across in Khanfall (someone likened him to Orwell's 1984 Big Brother and especially Thought Police), when he killed Shu Yun.
How he handled Narset's ascension and the fact she read the scrolls was what I hoped him to be from the beginning. On the other hand, maybe it was fully intentional, to show his character growth across the 1280 years.
As for Narset, I am really surprised that she is not Jeskai, but only UW. Her red side, present both in KTK and here, is rather prominent.
Last but not least, it seems from every picture that this Narset is significantly younger than her KTK self.
And Taigam is really a jerk again Nicely handled.
Also, this is probably expected to mirror Quiet Contemplation (note the composition and the symbol of the eye). This is probably Taigam.
Last but not least, the arts in that article are gorgeous. I really hope that this is Dragonlord Ojutai's art.
Narset is a fidgety child prodigy who starts off studying Ojutai's ways from afar. Eventually, his right hand speaker calls her to train directly under the dragon's gaze. She learns fast and suppresses her constant desire to run. Her restlessness is commented on regularly but she has the discipline and desire for knowledge to persevere. At 15 she becomes the youngest Master ever, pissing of Taigam in the process. However, reaching the pinnacle brings back her restlessness. She needs more! She can't have learned everything. She finds the hidden scrolls, learns the real history of the ancient Jeskai and travels all across Tarkir seeking it out. She finds Shu Yun's hidden history from the Khanfall, almost walks away from the plane but can't let go. Finally, she sees Ojutai again after learning all of this, gets a kind of nod and a wink from Ojutai and she finally lets go enough to Planeswalk away from Tarkir.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Well, over a thousand years have passed. Perhaps he's learned the error of his ways, and sees his new "subjects" as individuals seeking guidance and meaning?
- Main Cube
- No Brains, All Feelings Cube
Interesting that there's no red in her card. Her restlessness in KTK was a dsire for freedom, and now it has been shifted to a desire for knowledge. Interesting.
I can see her as being a more useful (storywise) version of Tamiyo (because who wants to read about rabbit planeswalekrs). it also seems as if Ojutai knew that sooner or later somebody was going to find out the truth about how he came into power, and oddly, he seems cool with it. I guess people (and dijin and efreets and aven and whatever)[/i]knowing[/i] what happened doesn't necessarily equate to them actually [i]doing[/i] anything about it, so no real threat there. or maybe he's just not that afraid of Ugin?
Click the pic for more info.
I think it meant that she planeswalked.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Well, I do
The thought of Ojutai doing tai-chi and kung-fu sounds amazing if what Narset says is true (her mimicking his movements and all). He even has his paws in a prayer pose in one of the arts! Also, dat counterspell-flick. I hope that card will be playable. I will be more than happy with a Negate reprint with that art.
Oh and Taigam is still scum. Looks like some things still haven't changed.
"Kiora is the Aquaman of planeswalkers."
"Useless and everyone pretends to like her?"
If he were that okay with the truth then there would be something about Ojutai that was actually true. In the entire story the only trait Ojutai claims that isn't shown to be an outright lie is that he's a dragon. The whole set up makes me of Plato's Republic mixed with Buddhism. Everyone is taught that Ojutai is supreme and that humans have served dragons since the dawn of time because he feels that "noble lie" will bring about order and encourage the pursuit of enlightenment. He isn't brutal or cruel but he is exactly as fascist as in Khanfall.
I think there's a direct line between Great Teacher and Big Brother here although I see people disagreeing with that. After all in 1984 everybody loved Big Brother, that was the whole point.
I think that's a fair portrayal of the society he's crafted, but Narset in this case committed multiple thoughtcrimes. It led to the discovery of forbidden documents that tell of the eradication of the Jeskai clan. This knowledge undermines one of the premises of his society. Yet we did not see Ojutai whisk Narset away to the Ministry of Love to be re-educated. Maybe there's more to the story from this point, but I found the Ojutai's reaction to the situation to be much different than what I anticipated.
UR Blue-Red Control
Modern:
UBR Grixis Control
UWR Jeskai Control
From a human on tarkir's perspective, I could see why people thought he was a tyrant or would punish Narset. Otherwise, not surprised that he isn't that.
I have a feeling that the broodlords are really determined to keep Tarkir ignorant of anything that didn't know dragon primacy (pre-Crux was more of a deadlock, remember). At the very least, Ojutai's going to be rather upset when Ugin is reawakened. Of course, this is post-Mending--Ojutai might start grinning again when it turns out that Ugin's power has been circumscribed by the Mending.
Ensure his kind's survival? This is simply not true. The dragon tempests were increasing, not ceasing, as in the previous timeline. There was no threat to the dragons at all from the Khans.
- Main Cube
- No Brains, All Feelings Cube
Of course, it doesn't change the fact that he's still plenty jerkish by our standards since he won't admit to the past mistake and I'm still mad at him for forbidding the knowledge in the first place when he could have worked with Shu Yun 1280 years ago and turned the Jeskai into something beyond either of their solo visions! (yes I'm still miffed about that.)
They nipped the threat of an allied clan coalition. That's responding to a threat. Just because the threat was diffused doesn't mean it wasn't a threat. Either the Khans come into power, or the dragons. That's been the framework of this block, if you've been following.
Actually, the framework of the block seems to be that Ugin intended for there to be balance, and tipping the balance either way results in a dark future for Tarkir. It'll be extremely interesting to see what happens when Sarkhan wakes Ugin up, and Ugin sees what has become of his world.
- Main Cube
- No Brains, All Feelings Cube
I'm picturing Ugin being like Lugia from Pokemon 2000: "I swear, I leave you alone for one millennium and everything gets thrown out of whack..."
Also, Narset still feels Jeskai-colored to me, like how Ajani is Naya-colored but never all on one card...though maybe that's just hope talking. Fun story overall. Ojutai felt a little creepy with the whole "broadcasting 'love me' thoughts across his general vicinity every day" thing: I still don't quite trust him. Both that and how quickly Narset's thoughts changed at the end of the UR seems to point to some sort of direct mental influence, at least to me. Will be interesting to see if Narset stays loyal to Ojutai after inevitably interacting with Sarkhan.
Oh for sure. Just stating why it's no surprise to me that Ojutai isn't a huge dick like people seem to have expected. He merely ensured their own survival and dominance. As opposed to extinction that we saw in KTK. It'll be interesting to see Ugin do his Rayquaza thing.
Except that it is BS. Elder Dragons were not limited to Dominaria, heck, the PREDATE that plane. They waged war across the Multiverse.
Except that we are talking about a whole different RACE. The Elder Dragons were intrinsic part of the lore. Thanks to Bolas being still around, the term is not an obscure reference to old days, but a term that is in people's minds. Heck, these guys have even a FORMAT named for them (just kidding). And the term has a very specific meaning until Monday. If the guys who made Legends chose different name for the race, much confusion could have been avoided (Urdragons? Draco-Ancestors...etc.)
We were given an explanation, and also a honest admission that they know they were kind of betraying the lore and people who hold it dear.
As for the UR, they were very nic. This new girl writes really well.
The Ojutai portrayed here was what I expected him to be when FRF was spoiled. I was very, very surprised how he came across in Khanfall (someone likened him to Orwell's 1984 Big Brother and especially Thought Police), when he killed Shu Yun.
How he handled Narset's ascension and the fact she read the scrolls was what I hoped him to be from the beginning. On the other hand, maybe it was fully intentional, to show his character growth across the 1280 years.
As for Narset, I am really surprised that she is not Jeskai, but only UW. Her red side, present both in KTK and here, is rather prominent.
Last but not least, it seems from every picture that this Narset is significantly younger than her KTK self.
And Taigam is really a jerk again Nicely handled.
Also, this is probably expected to mirror Quiet Contemplation (note the composition and the symbol of the eye). This is probably Taigam.
Last but not least, the arts in that article are gorgeous. I really hope that this is Dragonlord Ojutai's art.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Your mods are terrified of me.