I remember that. I would've preferred random oneshot stories of other people on Zendikar conducting their own futile battles. Not only does that give us truer scope, but it allows for filler that's less egregious than Gideon finding a random Eldrazi every story to whip.
Maybe we'll go back to that in a few weeks, after all the 'chapters' of BFZ are over.
Some people have mentioned this already, but I will emphasize: I think the major problem for the story that they are trying to tell is the fact that they are stuck with a cast of the same number of planeswalkers (the Origins 5) rotating in and out week after week. That is bad for storytelling because even if you don't have anything relevant to say or to add for that character at that moment you have to come up with something! And that is why most of the URs feel like fillers (notice that neither Liliana nor Chandra are in the rotating cast at that moment, which makes matters even worse).
I'm glad to know that next week will be Drana's time, and I think, honestly, that they would do much better just by making us follow different planeswalkers and different legendary creatures from time to time. Why not give us a story about Omnath? It would be very interesting to see. What about Munda? And who is Zada, Hedron Grinder? Why not start introducing these characters? Show up Ob Nixilis, show Kiora, Ugin, Sorin, everyone who is relevant to the story and its progress, and then when we come back to Gideon even if it is to see eldrazis being slayed it will feel like something new, because we haven't seen it for a while. I don't like the idea of following random people, I think we have enough of a relevant cast (planeswalker + legendary creatures) to exploit, but maybe it is a matter of taste.
And finally, the thing with the artwork: I think it is really easy to solve. You can make up a card like Hedron Network just showing a bunch of hedrons and nothing inside of it or a cool design of hedrons arranged in a particular way and then make the Hedron Network card your pre-release or FNM prize with Ulamog showing up inside of it. That would be very cool and it would delay the spoiler by a lot! Things like Ob Nixilis though are much harder to not spoil, but I honestly don't mind knowing that he regained his spark, because we still have to see HOW it is going to happen. The problem with Hedron Network is that it is explaining a "how". "How are they going to stop Ulamog? Well, with a network of hedrons, of course!"
Would you like to read Commander stories? Check my latest stories, coming from Lorwyn and Innistrad: Ghoulcaller Gisa and Doran, The Siege Tower! If you like my writing, ask me to write something for your commander as well!
I've actually been enjoying the stories but I agree with you guys that they're really dragging things out. If we had more stories from the POV of random Zendakari it might make things more interesting and provide more scope and perspective to what the eldrazi are doing to Zendikar. I know we're getting a Drana story next week so hopefully that will give us a bit of that. I'm also really beginning to wonder if Kozilek is still on Zendikar, like the planeswalkers will trap Ulamog with the Hedron Network (thanks for the spoiler alert Wizards) and then Kozilek and its' brood will come out from underground to finish Zendikar off. Could the Oath of the Gatewatch be a promise to never let another world fall the same way Zendikar did? If so it would really up the ante of the eldrazi plotline, and provide interesting new directions for character development in Gideon, as he dealt with his failure, and Kiora and Nissa, as they dealt with the loss of their world.
1. Kozilek is not hiding underground. He's on some other plane.
2. Oath of the Gatewatch isn't about a promise to worry about any other plane, it's about watching to make sure that Ulamog stay's sealed on Zendikar. Look at the artwork of Hedron Network: Ulamog is being sealed in front of Sea Gate. How do I know that he's being sealed? Because his extremities are being turned to stone (notice in the art that his "arms" are white/gray when they are normally blue/indigo).
And finally, the thing with the artwork: I think it is really easy to solve. You can make up a card like Hedron Network just showing a bunch of hedrons and nothing inside of it or a cool design of hedrons arranged in a particular way and then make the Hedron Network card your pre-release or FNM prize with Ulamog showing up inside of it.
Wizards wants players to be aware of the storyline because it keeps people invested in the game. They have to put it on the cards in order to do that, its the only MTG thing most players will ever read.
And finally, the thing with the artwork: I think it is really easy to solve. You can make up a card like Hedron Network just showing a bunch of hedrons and nothing inside of it or a cool design of hedrons arranged in a particular way and then make the Hedron Network card your pre-release or FNM prize with Ulamog showing up inside of it.
Wizards wants players to be aware of the storyline because it keeps people invested in the game. They have to put it on the cards in order to do that, its the only MTG thing most players will ever read.
How is that a problem for what I suggested? People would still get the storyline in the cards, in fact they would have a cool revelation: card gets spoiled with some cool flavor text hinting at something and then in your pre-release or FNM you see ulamog there with a clarifying flavor text explaining what happened.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
.
Would you like to read Commander stories? Check my latest stories, coming from Lorwyn and Innistrad: Ghoulcaller Gisa and Doran, The Siege Tower! If you like my writing, ask me to write something for your commander as well!
Glad to hear that most people are on a similar page.
I think Ashiok struck the heart of the problem. We're mostly going to be following the Origins 5 for the time being, so they're churning out articles about them. Meanwhile, we're discovering the plot of BfZ through card spoilers. The concept of using planeswalkers as a tool to link the story is fine, but these UR feel more like we're focusing on the role of the planeswalkers on Zendikar, rather than what is actually happening on Zendikar.
I don't want to read 3 stories about Gideon killing eldrazi and protecting small bands of people, especially when that is 3 weeks worth of UR. There's from 7-9 planeswalkers involved, in addition to (apparently) several legendary creatures. That's a lot of characters to fit in when most URs are focusing on one or two of them at a time. I'm not seeing where the room is for filler articles about Gideon killing Eldrazi. I also don't think that's a good way of conveying the peril that Zendikar is in, since he is basically a superhero at this point.
There appears to be many interesting things happening with the storyline of BfZ. How does Ob get reignited? Where does Kiora fit in? How are they going to defeat Ulamog? Yet we only know about these things because the cards are explicitly telling us that they are going to happen. What we're currently reading does not seem to progress the story enough towards these things. For two months or so we've been reading BfZ stories and they've only covered the stories of 3 characters. There's too much going on in the plot for that to be interesting for me.
How is that a problem for what I suggested? People would still get the storyline in the cards
No, most people would not get the storyline in the cards your way. Wizards has made it very clear that the majority of their income comes from casual players. Those are not people who regularly go to pre-release FNMs.
Yeah that's kind of what i figured. I do think it's odd though that we've seen several Kozilek spawn (including one called Herald of Kozilek) but no Emrakul spawn (as yet). I could tell Ulamog was getting imprisoned again in Hedron Network and I agree it's unlikely that Kozilek is still on Zendikar because I'm assuming Wizards will want to save him for later blocks. I also agree that Oath of the Gatewatch likely refers to watching Ulamog's prison, but I can hope It does make me wonder though, if Ulamog gets trapped at the end of BFZ and the other titans are elsewhere who is the antagonist in Oath of the Gatewatch? Ob?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
Yeah that's kind of what i figured. I do think it's odd though that we've seen several Kozilek spawn (including one called Herald of Kozilek) but no Emrakul spawn (as yet). I could tell Ulamog was getting imprisoned again in Hedron Network and I agree it's unlikely that Kozilek is still on Zendikar because I'm assuming Wizards will want to save him for later blocks. I also agree that Oath of the Gatewatch likely refers to watching Ulamog's prison, but I can hope It does make me wonder though, if Ulamog gets trapped at the end of BFZ and the other titans are elsewhere who is the antagonist in Oath of the Gatewatch? Ob?
That whole thing with Ob Nixilis is likely the Nissa side story that we'll get into later. I mean, the story is progressing so slowly that it'll probably take until Oath of the Gatewatch releases before we get to the part where they come up with a plan to start sealing Ulamog. I mean, they still have to introduce Kiora to the story, show us where Nissa is going, have Nissa get her powers back, talk about what Ob Nixilis did to get his spark back, have Kiora and Gideon retake Sea Gate, have Jace meet Ugin, have the two of them debate over what to do, etc, etc, etc. In other words, it's going to be awhile story-wise.
Yeah that's kind of what i figured. I do think it's odd though that we've seen several Kozilek spawn (including one called Herald of Kozilek) but no Emrakul spawn (as yet). I could tell Ulamog was getting imprisoned again in Hedron Network and I agree it's unlikely that Kozilek is still on Zendikar because I'm assuming Wizards will want to save him for later blocks. I also agree that Oath of the Gatewatch likely refers to watching Ulamog's prison, but I can hope It does make me wonder though, if Ulamog gets trapped at the end of BFZ and the other titans are elsewhere who is the antagonist in Oath of the Gatewatch? Ob?
Yeah that's kind of what i figured. I do think it's odd though that we've seen several Kozilek spawn (including one called Herald of Kozilek) but no Emrakul spawn (as yet). I could tell Ulamog was getting imprisoned again in Hedron Network and I agree it's unlikely that Kozilek is still on Zendikar because I'm assuming Wizards will want to save him for later blocks. I also agree that Oath of the Gatewatch likely refers to watching Ulamog's prison, but I can hope It does make me wonder though, if Ulamog gets trapped at the end of BFZ and the other titans are elsewhere who is the antagonist in Oath of the Gatewatch? Ob?
Mist Intruder is an Emrakul spawn.
It has none of the indicators of Emrakul's lineage. Bony plates, bifurcated arms, and rope like tentacles all say it is one of Ulamog's spawn.
I had the same thought, though, flying has only been associated with Emrakul in the past.
Yeah I'm pretty sure Mist Intruder is one of Ulamog's, plus Ulamog's Nullifier and Smothering Abomination have shown that some of Ulamog's spawn can fly. Soooo not to drift too far into speculation territory, and as I've said I'm assuming Wizards is saving the other titans for later blocks, but in The Card of the Day on the Mothership today it says that Ulamog is the only titan currently known to be on Zendikar. Has it ever been explicitly stated the other two left, or just hinted at? For all we know Wizards will spoil an Emrakul spawn tomorrow and these spawn are just the ones who haven't died off yet, but they seem to be intentionally keeping things vague about whether or not Ulamog is the only titan who stayed, and I think it's interesting we've seen multiple Kozilek spawn, all of which have been underground. I think it would be a cool twist if Kozilek were still there, but I'll admit I'm probably just following red herrings.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
I may be mis-remembering the details, but my understanding was that the Eldrazi Spawn were basically "shadows" of the Eldrazi Titans, who were non-corporeal (and non-planar) in their true state. To use an analogy, the Titans are a beam of colorless light and Zendikar (in this case) is a prism, which seems to filter the original beam into many colored beams (the Eldrazi Spawn). But here's the thing - if that is accurate, once one of the Titans leaves the plane, their Spawn should leave as well. (Remove the original beam of light, and the prims stops projecting a spectrum). So, if Kozilek's spawn are still on Zendikar, that implies Kozilek is also still there. (As opposed to Emrakul - everyone above already pointed out how we have yet to see a single Emrakul Spawn.)
But again, I may be wrong, or WotC may have retconned how the Spawn work.
I may be mis-remembering the details, but my understanding was that the Eldrazi Spawn were basically "shadows" of the Eldrazi Titans, who were non-corporeal (and non-planar) in their true state. To use an analogy, the Titans are a beam of colorless light and Zendikar (in this case) is a prism, which seems to filter the original beam into many colored beams (the Eldrazi Spawn). But here's the thing - if that is accurate, once one of the Titans leaves the plane, their Spawn should leave as well. (Remove the original beam of light, and the prims stops projecting a spectrum). So, if Kozilek's spawn are still on Zendikar, that implies Kozilek is also still there. (As opposed to Emrakul - everyone above already pointed out how we have yet to see a single Emrakul Spawn.)
But again, I may be wrong, or WotC may have retconned how the Spawn work.
No, the titans themselves are shadows of the true Eldrazi. That was true as recently as Nahiri's intro story. It's not entirely clear what the brood lineages are.
I may be mis-remembering the details, but my understanding was that the Eldrazi Spawn were basically "shadows" of the Eldrazi Titans, who were non-corporeal (and non-planar) in their true state. To use an analogy, the Titans are a beam of colorless light and Zendikar (in this case) is a prism, which seems to filter the original beam into many colored beams (the Eldrazi Spawn). But here's the thing - if that is accurate, once one of the Titans leaves the plane, their Spawn should leave as well. (Remove the original beam of light, and the prims stops projecting a spectrum). So, if Kozilek's spawn are still on Zendikar, that implies Kozilek is also still there. (As opposed to Emrakul - everyone above already pointed out how we have yet to see a single Emrakul Spawn.)
But again, I may be wrong, or WotC may have retconned how the Spawn work.
No, the titans themselves are shadows of the true Eldrazi. That was true as recently as Nahiri's intro story. It's not entirely clear what the brood lineages are.
I was under the impression the broods were something like organs or appendages. Ulamog's increased freqeuncy of attacks near Sea Gate, and the huge swarm left, was described as him "tasting" the area's mana with his brood. But I was also under the impression that it was confirmed that Ulamog was the only titan left on Zendikar on something that came with the prerelease kit. If the broods are like appendages, it seems weird there'd be any left if the titan wasn't there anymore.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
They didn't care that he was the savior of Fort Keff, the great hunter of Ondu, the champion of Kabira. To them, he was just another piece of flesh, a thing with life to be drained away.
Squirming spawn and faceless drones, bestial extensions of their titan sire's alien will, of Ulamog's unending hunger
The Believers' Pilgrimage
That's why Sea Gate was being attacked by the scions of the Eldrazi. They were the farthest tendrils of Ulamog's spread, reaching out, sensing for the concentrations of population, sensing concentrations of energy.
The Eldrazi Arisen
Their awakening spurred a teeming host of lesser Eldrazi drone-creatures into existence
The three planeswalkers returned briefly to reinforce their spell, returning the Eldrazi colossi to torpor once again. They disbanded again once they were sure there was no danger the three Eldrazi would escape the planar prison. But the brood lineages—the swarms of lesser Eldrazi—remained, and fed.
The Three Brood Lineages
Each spawns a so-called brood lineage of minions around it, lesser Eldrazi creatures that aid the three astral abominations in carrying out their inscrutable purposes.
Originally it was very clear that the lesser Eldrazi were largely independent beings brought into existence by the Eldrazi. That seems a bit more blurred as of BFZ but we also have only an in universe perspective for those claims. Gideon and Jace don't know for sure how the Eldrazi work, though we're probably supposed to take their beliefs as accurate.
I don't think it's is that easy to say how the Eldrazi work. The "corporeal" eldrazi are like shadows, true. But they are also like appendages. The way they work they can also be likened to the Eldrazi's digestive system, similar to how starfish evert their stomach on mussels to externally digest their prey.
These parallels are drawn to be able to explain how the eldrazi work, but considering just how alien they are it makes sense that no metaphor is perfect and you need multiple to explain different aspects of them.
I think the best way to explain the "corporeal" eldrazi is that they are somehow part of the titan, although physically disconnected from the main body. Imagine sticking body parts of yourself into a 2-dimensional plane, the way the extra-dimensional eldrazi are feeding on a 3-dimensional one. You would have various parts of your body intersecting with the 2-dimensional realm, but to the natives your different parts, although part of the same system, would appear as disconnected. Each finger would be separate, if you stick your head in, each single hair is its own entity in the eyes of the 2-D-wellers. (heh)
How would the inhabitants of a 2-dimensional plane describe us? They would also resort to analogies like shadows, appendages and such, but they would never be able to quite grasp the concept. I think it adds to the otherwordliness of the eldrazi that no matter what parallel you use to understand them better, it is still far from a satisfying explanation.
The fact that Eldrazi persist when then Titans are gone is the biggest problem with that explanation, they must be at least partially independent. I'm curious to see if they've decided to change that for BFZ.
I do agree with the notion that we don't need a satisfying explanation of how the Eldrazi work.
The fact that Eldrazi persist when then Titans are gone is the biggest problem with that explanation, they must be at least partially independent. I'm curious to see if they've decided to change that for BFZ.
I do agree with the notion that we don't need a satisfying explanation of how the Eldrazi work.
Do we know, for a fact, that Kozilek is not on Zendikar?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
I actually thought there was, but the thing I was thinking of actually only says Ulamog is 1 of the Eldrazi titans that was imprisoned on Zendikar, not that he is the only one left still on Zendikar. The fact there is Kozilek lineage but no Emrakul so far (if there was one, it'd probably show on one of the gold uncommon limited archetype cards) implies that I think Kozilek actually probably is still there then, while Emrakul probably isn't. Seems kind of strange they'd divvy it up that way since it seems like it makes more sense to give each titan their own block to spread it out more, but we'll see what happens with it. Maybe they'll have Kozilek escape in the second set to set up for another. I'm not even sure exactly what "escaping" would entail for an Eldrazi.
They didn't care that he was the savior of Fort Keff, the great hunter of Ondu, the champion of Kabira. To them, he was just another piece of flesh, a thing with life to be drained away.
The fact that Eldrazi persist when then Titans are gone is the biggest problem with that explanation, they must be at least partially independent. I'm curious to see if they've decided to change that for BFZ.
I do agree with the notion that we don't need a satisfying explanation of how the Eldrazi work.
Do we know, for a fact, that Kozilek is not on Zendikar?
I'm referring to the article "The Three Brood Lineages" which explicitly states that the Eldrazi plagued Zendikar even after the Titans were sealed.
(Unrelated: I am starting to come around to the idea that Kozilek is still on Zendikar.)
Nah, they all look too happy.
Your mods are terrified of me.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
They're talking about the Uncharted Realms stories. Ob Nixilis and Kiora have not shown up in any Battle for Zendikar stories yet.
I'm glad to know that next week will be Drana's time, and I think, honestly, that they would do much better just by making us follow different planeswalkers and different legendary creatures from time to time. Why not give us a story about Omnath? It would be very interesting to see. What about Munda? And who is Zada, Hedron Grinder? Why not start introducing these characters? Show up Ob Nixilis, show Kiora, Ugin, Sorin, everyone who is relevant to the story and its progress, and then when we come back to Gideon even if it is to see eldrazis being slayed it will feel like something new, because we haven't seen it for a while. I don't like the idea of following random people, I think we have enough of a relevant cast (planeswalker + legendary creatures) to exploit, but maybe it is a matter of taste.
And finally, the thing with the artwork: I think it is really easy to solve. You can make up a card like Hedron Network just showing a bunch of hedrons and nothing inside of it or a cool design of hedrons arranged in a particular way and then make the Hedron Network card your pre-release or FNM prize with Ulamog showing up inside of it. That would be very cool and it would delay the spoiler by a lot! Things like Ob Nixilis though are much harder to not spoil, but I honestly don't mind knowing that he regained his spark, because we still have to see HOW it is going to happen. The problem with Hedron Network is that it is explaining a "how". "How are they going to stop Ulamog? Well, with a network of hedrons, of course!"
Read my other stories as well (some ongoing):
Reaper King (a horror story), Kaalia of the Vast (an origin story), Sequels for Innistrad (Alternative sequels for Inn), Grey Areas (Odric's fanfic), Royal Succession (goblins),The Tracker's Message (eldrazi on Innistrad) and Ugin and his Eye (the end of OGW).
1. Kozilek is not hiding underground. He's on some other plane.
2. Oath of the Gatewatch isn't about a promise to worry about any other plane, it's about watching to make sure that Ulamog stay's sealed on Zendikar. Look at the artwork of Hedron Network: Ulamog is being sealed in front of Sea Gate. How do I know that he's being sealed? Because his extremities are being turned to stone (notice in the art that his "arms" are white/gray when they are normally blue/indigo).
Wizards wants players to be aware of the storyline because it keeps people invested in the game. They have to put it on the cards in order to do that, its the only MTG thing most players will ever read.
How is that a problem for what I suggested? People would still get the storyline in the cards, in fact they would have a cool revelation: card gets spoiled with some cool flavor text hinting at something and then in your pre-release or FNM you see ulamog there with a clarifying flavor text explaining what happened.
Read my other stories as well (some ongoing):
Reaper King (a horror story), Kaalia of the Vast (an origin story), Sequels for Innistrad (Alternative sequels for Inn), Grey Areas (Odric's fanfic), Royal Succession (goblins),The Tracker's Message (eldrazi on Innistrad) and Ugin and his Eye (the end of OGW).
I think Ashiok struck the heart of the problem. We're mostly going to be following the Origins 5 for the time being, so they're churning out articles about them. Meanwhile, we're discovering the plot of BfZ through card spoilers. The concept of using planeswalkers as a tool to link the story is fine, but these UR feel more like we're focusing on the role of the planeswalkers on Zendikar, rather than what is actually happening on Zendikar.
I don't want to read 3 stories about Gideon killing eldrazi and protecting small bands of people, especially when that is 3 weeks worth of UR. There's from 7-9 planeswalkers involved, in addition to (apparently) several legendary creatures. That's a lot of characters to fit in when most URs are focusing on one or two of them at a time. I'm not seeing where the room is for filler articles about Gideon killing Eldrazi. I also don't think that's a good way of conveying the peril that Zendikar is in, since he is basically a superhero at this point.
There appears to be many interesting things happening with the storyline of BfZ. How does Ob get reignited? Where does Kiora fit in? How are they going to defeat Ulamog? Yet we only know about these things because the cards are explicitly telling us that they are going to happen. What we're currently reading does not seem to progress the story enough towards these things. For two months or so we've been reading BfZ stories and they've only covered the stories of 3 characters. There's too much going on in the plot for that to be interesting for me.
No, most people would not get the storyline in the cards your way. Wizards has made it very clear that the majority of their income comes from casual players. Those are not people who regularly go to pre-release FNMs.
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
That whole thing with Ob Nixilis is likely the Nissa side story that we'll get into later. I mean, the story is progressing so slowly that it'll probably take until Oath of the Gatewatch releases before we get to the part where they come up with a plan to start sealing Ulamog. I mean, they still have to introduce Kiora to the story, show us where Nissa is going, have Nissa get her powers back, talk about what Ob Nixilis did to get his spark back, have Kiora and Gideon retake Sea Gate, have Jace meet Ugin, have the two of them debate over what to do, etc, etc, etc. In other words, it's going to be awhile story-wise.
I thought that was weird, too, not even a hint of the Emrakul brood lineage. I'm surprised no one has tracked where the Eldrazi went.
Mist Intruder is an Emrakul spawn.
Your mods are terrified of me.
It has none of the indicators of Emrakul's lineage. Bony plates, bifurcated arms, and rope like tentacles all say it is one of Ulamog's spawn.
I had the same thought, though, flying has only been associated with Emrakul in the past.
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
I may be mis-remembering the details, but my understanding was that the Eldrazi Spawn were basically "shadows" of the Eldrazi Titans, who were non-corporeal (and non-planar) in their true state. To use an analogy, the Titans are a beam of colorless light and Zendikar (in this case) is a prism, which seems to filter the original beam into many colored beams (the Eldrazi Spawn). But here's the thing - if that is accurate, once one of the Titans leaves the plane, their Spawn should leave as well. (Remove the original beam of light, and the prims stops projecting a spectrum). So, if Kozilek's spawn are still on Zendikar, that implies Kozilek is also still there. (As opposed to Emrakul - everyone above already pointed out how we have yet to see a single Emrakul Spawn.)
But again, I may be wrong, or WotC may have retconned how the Spawn work.
No, the titans themselves are shadows of the true Eldrazi. That was true as recently as Nahiri's intro story. It's not entirely clear what the brood lineages are.
I was under the impression the broods were something like organs or appendages. Ulamog's increased freqeuncy of attacks near Sea Gate, and the huge swarm left, was described as him "tasting" the area's mana with his brood. But I was also under the impression that it was confirmed that Ulamog was the only titan left on Zendikar on something that came with the prerelease kit. If the broods are like appendages, it seems weird there'd be any left if the titan wasn't there anymore.
But the people behind the barrier knew.
The Believers' Pilgrimage
The Eldrazi Arisen
The Three Brood Lineages
Originally it was very clear that the lesser Eldrazi were largely independent beings brought into existence by the Eldrazi. That seems a bit more blurred as of BFZ but we also have only an in universe perspective for those claims. Gideon and Jace don't know for sure how the Eldrazi work, though we're probably supposed to take their beliefs as accurate.
These parallels are drawn to be able to explain how the eldrazi work, but considering just how alien they are it makes sense that no metaphor is perfect and you need multiple to explain different aspects of them.
I think the best way to explain the "corporeal" eldrazi is that they are somehow part of the titan, although physically disconnected from the main body. Imagine sticking body parts of yourself into a 2-dimensional plane, the way the extra-dimensional eldrazi are feeding on a 3-dimensional one. You would have various parts of your body intersecting with the 2-dimensional realm, but to the natives your different parts, although part of the same system, would appear as disconnected. Each finger would be separate, if you stick your head in, each single hair is its own entity in the eyes of the 2-D-wellers. (heh)
How would the inhabitants of a 2-dimensional plane describe us? They would also resort to analogies like shadows, appendages and such, but they would never be able to quite grasp the concept. I think it adds to the otherwordliness of the eldrazi that no matter what parallel you use to understand them better, it is still far from a satisfying explanation.
I do agree with the notion that we don't need a satisfying explanation of how the Eldrazi work.
Do we know, for a fact, that Kozilek is not on Zendikar?
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
But the people behind the barrier knew.
I'm referring to the article "The Three Brood Lineages" which explicitly states that the Eldrazi plagued Zendikar even after the Titans were sealed.
(Unrelated: I am starting to come around to the idea that Kozilek is still on Zendikar.)