I love how people call his story cliched, but seriously have you ever read a story that started:
"Jace was a just a regular person. Happy, content and a telepath."
Reason stories end up cliched is generally they are the better thing to write than the alternative.
That said, I really liked his story, I really like the idea that Jace is inconsistent because as he finds out more about himself it changes him slightly. A bit like the Will of the Architecht in the keys to the kingdom series.
Reason stories end up cliched is generally they are the better thing to write than the alternative.
If that was the case, every story would be Beowulf.
From what I've seen from Agents of Artifice and the random cards that got spoiled, Jace's story is beat for beat the "nerdy outcast becomes cool" story. It's true that there are no more original ideas, but it's also true that great writers can spin the borrowed ideas from others into unique and filling stories.
That said, I've not read this story yet and can't work up the care to. Jace is just a really bland, cliched character that I can't care about.
I'm dislike all the retons so far... they all try to make planeswalkers some kind of 'victim', that they had benign intention/youth at first and persecuted by situation/people. Especially Jace.
The original lore he was upset with his teacher blocking the truth about planes-walking from him, he wiped his teacher's mind out of anger. Then, under extreme guilt, he wiped his memory to stop the pain. Jace was a coward in the original lore, but with a past people can relate and sympathize (hurting those you respect out of rage and want to escape). Here? He was used and persecuted, a misunderstood-used-angry-for-a-good-reason-genius, which is cliche to no end.
The intent to make readers sympathize the planeswalkers is way too obvious, eck.
I quite liked this story. Alhammaret's reasoning was cool, I finally GET why Jace keeps removing all his memories (At a young age. he killed some general, possibly some kid, and was betrayed by his mentor whom he killed). Cliched story is cliched, but it's not bad. I really want an origin story that doesn't revolve around some totally antagonistic character. I would have preferred ONE of the antagonists to at least be somewhat relate-able, because all these stories are starting to sound unfortunately similar. Hoping Gideon's is closer to "Gideon does his thing because he wants to be a hero of the people" rather then "Gideon does his thing because trauma caused by someone he then later beats, igniting his spark," but it's gunna be the latter one probably, calling it now. Place your bets.
That was pretty good. Also, the drawing of cards represents him finding his note-to-self. The discarding is him forcing himself to forget. Then, when he has five cards in the graveyard to represent the forgetting of his past, he planeswalks.
This one wasn't really a story of how Jace's spark ignited as there was only a short paragraph on that; it was about how he forgot a lot of things, but not as many as Albert the Sphinx.
All in all, pretty good story.
8/10
Vryn doesn't seem that fascinating of a plane, either. They have... magic. Okay. What else? What makes the plane special?
I don't know a giant mana mining camp seems like a pretty cool setting to me, but I also think mining creates cool stories in real life. The storyline of two warring factions seems pretty solid too and throwing in Jace returning to what he forgot might be interesting. It seems tricky to make the world more magical when people shun the one telepath in town. Another possible location for riggers and contraptions, like Chandra's plane. Possibly more suited for Vryn actually to me, at least. I could easily imagine a plane centered around artifacts generating and filtering mana; the trick for game design would be to find something to do with that mana. A system of resource development in the vein of Minecraft, as I understand it, might be a weird experiment worth attempting, akin to the gold tokens from Theros but much more relevant. This could be similar to how devotion operated in this standard, but open up an avenue for green to not be the only big mana ramping deck as artifacts are open to all.
Ugh, Jace still isn't an interesting character to me. I can't sympathize with him at all. His major flaws are that he's super smart and powerful?
Alhammaret's reason for deceiving Jace was unbelievable, too. He kept the war going because without it he'd be out of a job? I'm sure a giant mind-reading sphinx could find something to do to keep himself occupied.
Vryn doesn't seem that fascinating of a plane, either. They have... magic. Okay. What else? What makes the plane special?
I agree with Jace being a bit boring. If only they had made the thoughts of others able to overwhelm him, like they did to Watercrafters in the Codex of Alara series if you've ever read it.
As far as Vryn goes, I think it has a lot of potential. It's a plane stuck in perpetual, global war, instigated by the arbiters of "peace". It reminded me of 1984, which is pretty sweet in my mind. Alhammaret's reasoning is solid in my book, he has a place of massive power, and can shape the world as he see fit, while never having to deal with the consequences of his actions. He had the perfect dictatorship, playing both sides off of each other. Now that we know more about the Sphinx, I am pretty upset that he wasn't UB. In my mind, it's the perfect UB character.
"Gideon does his thing because trauma caused by someone he then later beats, igniting his spark," but it's gunna be the latter one probably, calling it now. Place your bets.
Well Heliod is a known and certified jerk. Wouldn't surprise me if he plays a role in the story.
No, we don't need more poorly thought out, and evil for the sake of evil bad guys. They had the ability to make an actual UB villian, no matter how short lived, and dropped the ball. I see no world where a mono U character would have done the things the sphinx did.
Alhamarret, if without Jace's subjective opinion, isn't necessary evil. He made it clear right from the start that permanent peace cannot be achieved and the balance protects the Mage Rings, he simply makes it happen, and in his own words, exhaust both sides so the temporary peace can come, and by giving info to both sides he could speed up that process, because either side losing may bring the rest of the civilization with it. Alhamarret is BLUE, doing things with most efficient method possible, achieve minimal losses by reaching result sooner. What I don't get is why he uses Jace to deliver information, it's a setup by author all too convenient for Jace to rebel.
The author's reasoning of Alhamarret's "stay in power as the arbiter" is also silly, because a telepath of his caliber can easily be in power no matter what he does. Hell, he can convince the major powers to worship him as God. BUT, in doing so, he may risk the balance of power that would end the civilization on Vryn. The only explanation to this dilemma is that Jace might have put in a lot of personal interpretation in what he read in his teacher's mind. Jace was, after all, victims of past abuse, and a telepath like him cannot possibly trust people in general; holders of secrets and lies.
EDIT: For reference, I think Karla from Record of the Lodoss War is somewhat similar to Alhamarret in this regard.
In the end Alhamarret is in full control of the plane. I struggle to believe that some amount of peace couldn't be achieved, especially when we are dealing with a telepath. Alhamarret could easily choose a side, give that side correct information on troop movements and other strategic information, while feeding the other side misinformation. I wouldn't be hard for him to do with great effect. This kind of information can easily cripple a regime and lead to its fall quickly. But what do the Sphinx get out of this? Maybe a high standing in the new world, but not much else. This is noticeably less than his current position of shaping the world on both sides, putting himself in the most advantageous position.
I also struggle to not call a being who keeps a plane in perpetual war evil. Going by the conditions Jace lived in, it's not a far stretch to call the world a dystopia when you factor in the never ending war. Using Jace is smart in someways, as Jace has the ability to sneak into enemy camps in order to gain information either side would not give the Sphinx. It was said they don't send representatives that know something they don't want know, to talk to Alhamarret. Sending Jace to spy is the only way he can reliably maintain his grip on the plan. We also don't know how many other Telepaths Alhamarret has done this too, so Jace could have been the last in a very long line.
I imagine that if we return to Vryn again, it would be after the whole eternal war thing has fallen apart because of Alhammaret's death. It'd actually be kinda funny if Jace actually ended up creating a post-apocalyptic setting with people fighting over control of the mines using technology scraps from the Mana Rings golden era.
I imagine that if we return to Vryn again, it would be after the whole eternal war thing has fallen apart because of Alhammaret's death. It'd actually be kinda funny if Jace actually ended up creating a post-apocalyptic setting with people fighting over control of the mines using technology scraps from the Mana Rings golden era.
I believe it was implied that Alhammaret is only one arbiter on Vryn, so I don't think his death will be end of the war. A warring plane seems like an obvious setting for a future block too so I doubt they'd want to lose that set-up.
I know I was actually pretty happy with the story. I dunno what the pay off feels like for someone who has known all these vague details pertianing to Jace's origins for all this time though. I think the one thing I didn't like was the spinning of Alhammarret as a villain. In the end, I guess it turns out that Jace had his memories wiped by Alhammarret as opposed to doing it himself to cope with his killing his master. It seems like a big change as far as motivations are concerned.
I haven't read a lot of fiction involving the subject matter, but I liked how Jace's telepathy is shown earlier on. I can't really explain. It just kind of feels naturally like telepaty would feel like it, like his own thoughts running together, but you realize they are talking in a way that makes it clear they aren't his own thoughts.
Also, kind of like Muzzio, I think they wanted to make Alhammarret appear more mono-blue by having him manipulate people from the sidelines without necessarily removing or killing his enemies outright. It's a thin line and could be interpreted either way, though, and since he wasn't the main character in the story we don't get a whole lot of his underlying thoughts, and thus we don't get extra things solidifying him as mono-blue, like Muzzio's obsession with creating a perfect world run by machines.
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.
I'm dislike all the retons so far... they all try to make planeswalkers some kind of 'victim', that they had benign intention/youth at first and persecuted by situation/people. Especially Jace.
The original lore he was upset with his teacher blocking the truth about planes-walking from him, he wiped his teacher's mind out of anger. Then, under extreme guilt, he wiped his memory to stop the pain. Jace was a coward in the original lore, but with a past people can relate and sympathize (hurting those you respect out of rage and want to escape). Here? He was used and persecuted, a misunderstood-used-angry-for-a-good-reason-genius, which is cliche to no end.
The intent to make readers sympathize the planeswalkers is way too obvious, eck.
I'm okay with this. I wasn't a fan of either Liliana or Jace until now. If they can turn my feelings around on Nissa, I'll applaud them for a job well done.
"Gideon does his thing because trauma caused by someone he then later beats, igniting his spark," but it's gunna be the latter one probably, calling it now. Place your bets.
Well Heliod is a known and certified jerk. Wouldn't surprise me if he plays a role in the story.
I was utterly disgusted with the character's actions with Elspeth, almost to the point of not wanting to use their cards.
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I've rarely had a story I liked and didn't like quite this much. I can think of a bunch of different ways to pull this one off rather than what we got and I'm not particularly enjoying the idea of Jace being manipulated so much even from early on.
I'm glad he's not a coward exactly but I do kind of miss the, "accidentally wiped his mentor's mind in anger" line more than anything. I'd have liked it more if Jace had been trying to get the information out of the sphinx and in his desire for more tapped into power the Alhammaret had been blocking Xavier style.
I know I was actually pretty happy with the story. I dunno what the pay off feels like for someone who has known all these vague details pertianing to Jace's origins for all this time though. I think the one thing I didn't like was the spinning of Alhammarret as a villain. In the end, I guess it turns out that Jace had his memories wiped by Alhammarret as opposed to doing it himself to cope with his killing his master. It seems like a big change as far as motivations are concerned.
Pretty sure it was stated that Jace's mega-memory-wipe was a result of him using a Dangerous Forbidden Technique to beat Alhammarret at the mental duel.
Also, kind of like Muzzio, I think they wanted to make Alhammarret appear more mono-blue by having him manipulate people from the sidelines without necessarily removing or killing his enemies outright. It's a thin line and could be interpreted either way, though, and since he wasn't the main character in the story we don't get a whole lot of his underlying thoughts, and thus we don't get extra things solidifying him as mono-blue, like Muzzio's obsession with creating a perfect world run by machines.
I think Alhammarret's stated intentions are pretty mono-blue, i.e. he cares more about the continued existence of the mage-ring network than the people living within it. The assumption that whichever side was about to lose utterly would destroy the mage-rings out of spite might be a reference to something that happened in Vryn's past (since sphinxes can live a pretty long time), or just Alhammarret's assumption that of course unblue, emotionally-driven creatures do stupid things. I could see either one being the case.
The profit motive was a bit weird and black-ish, I agree. Alhammarret selectively deciding which missions he sees fit to have Jace remember, Dimir sleeper agent style, would have been enough to piss off Jace.
Wonder if Jace's personality is intentionally as vague as possible to make it easy for the target audience (teenage-mid-twenties, male, values intelligence, nerdy/possible persecution complex) to identify with him?
"Gideon does his thing because trauma caused by someone he then later beats, igniting his spark," but it's gunna be the latter one probably, calling it now. Place your bets.
Well Heliod is a known and certified jerk. Wouldn't surprise me if he plays a role in the story.
I was utterly disgusted with the character's actions with Elspeth, almost to the point of not wanting to use their cards.
Has Heliod become the designated jerkass of Theros at this point? I see more people sympathize with Erebos, Xenagos, and Ashiok, of all people, than him.
Quick question... if we're not totally satisfied with the story and would like to propose a way it could have been made better, can that go here or must that be in fan fiction?
I think Alhammarret's stated intentions are pretty mono-blue, i.e. he cares more about the continued existence of the mage-ring network than the people living within it. The assumption that whichever side was about to lose utterly would destroy the mage-rings out of spite might be a reference to something that happened in Vryn's past (since sphinxes can live a pretty long time), or just Alhammarret's assumption that of course unblue, emotionally-driven creatures do stupid things. I could see either one being the case.
I didn't notice him saying one reason he was manipulating the two sides was to make sure the mage-rings remain standing explicitly, if he did say that then I think that sets him neatly in mono-blue, assuming that he believes that maintaining the mage-rings is most important. I was actually sort of bothered myself if profit was his primary motivation even though as I said I think the distinction would be a thin one at that point.
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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 thing that piss me off about this history is Alhammarret fall to greed. He could have show a bigger plan, a "This way the plan got to perfect itself", or even a pinch of white (!), but falling for money felt cheap.
The original lore he was upset with his teacher blocking the truth about planes-walking from him, he wiped his teacher's mind out of anger. Then, under extreme guilt, he wiped his memory to stop the pain.
line. The mental battle was ok (a bit rushed, but ok), however I do think that the guilt-wipe was more tragic (and more interesting). Where that info came from?
Also, quite a few words where used on Jace's denied-planeswalk. He could have continued with this line, no need to include money.
I think Alhammarret's stated intentions are pretty mono-blue, i.e. he cares more about the continued existence of the mage-ring network than the people living within it. The assumption that whichever side was about to lose utterly would destroy the mage-rings out of spite might be a reference to something that happened in Vryn's past (since sphinxes can live a pretty long time), or just Alhammarret's assumption that of course unblue, emotionally-driven creatures do stupid things. I could see either one being the case.
I didn't notice him saying one reason he was manipulating the two sides was to make sure the mage-rings remain standing explicitly, if he did say that then I think that sets him neatly in mono-blue, assuming that he believes that maintaining the mage-rings is most important. I was actually sort of bothered myself if profit was his primary motivation even though as I said I think the distinction would be a thin one at that point.
The sphinx does state, when it first travel with Jace, that "And as long as each side thinks it can win, that balance holds, and the mage-rings stand. Cities are abandoned intact rather than leveled. Roads and bridges are given up, to be recaptured later. If that ever changes—if either side finds itself in existential danger—then it will destroy everything as it retreats, to deny it to the other. Civilization on Vryn might take centuries to recover—if it ever did."
I'd say the sphinx is like, 7/10 U, 2/10 B, 1/10 W
I certainly liked Alhammaret. He exemplifies blue very well, and I find his motives and methods rather WUB. Emotionally detached and intelligent, he seeks pragmatic ways to ensure some stability and a semblance of peace. Earning money on the side would help managing his plans, and would appear less suspicious. After all, people are more likely to believe info they paid for than if it were free.
Jace's was the best story so far. His personality was well handled (not sure why people say they can't see his personality, he is clearly a regular person trying to do the right thing that sometimes falls into temptation or becomes guided by his sentiments instead of his rationality), and Alhammaret was the best character so far. He was complex, his intentions were not clear cut, and in the end you don't know if he was doing the things that he was doing out of greed, pragmatism, logic or something underneath, but you could feel a sense of reason coming from him, and if anyone asked me I wouldn't say that he was a Dimir character like Lazav. He was deceitful and manipulative, yes, but that is what blue is all about, he didn't actually hurt people to achieve his goal and keep his position, he was actually preventing a war to get worse.
I didn't feel like this was a rip-off or an unoriginal story, specially because a telepath would probably hurt someone one day, and would need the help of other telepath. I think everyone is focusing too much on the short scene with the three kids, where the writer was just clearly displaying how hard it was for Jace to handle his powers in many situations. If there is something that bothers me is the fact that all three walkers so far were 'spellcasters' as the sphinx define, meaning that they knew how to use spells without actually learning them, and that is getting boring and repetitive, I hope Gideon and Nissa can kick some asses without using any spells at first.
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I hope Gideon and Nissa can kick some asses without using any spells at first.
They probably will. In their Origins banner art, Gideon is shown hefting a spear while Nissa nocks an arrow. Probably just coincidence that we got the three 'walkers who are useless under an anti-magic field first.
"Jace was a just a regular person. Happy, content and a telepath."
Reason stories end up cliched is generally they are the better thing to write than the alternative.
That said, I really liked his story, I really like the idea that Jace is inconsistent because as he finds out more about himself it changes him slightly. A bit like the Will of the Architecht in the keys to the kingdom series.
If that was the case, every story would be Beowulf.
From what I've seen from Agents of Artifice and the random cards that got spoiled, Jace's story is beat for beat the "nerdy outcast becomes cool" story. It's true that there are no more original ideas, but it's also true that great writers can spin the borrowed ideas from others into unique and filling stories.
That said, I've not read this story yet and can't work up the care to. Jace is just a really bland, cliched character that I can't care about.
¯\_(:/)_/¯
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The original lore he was upset with his teacher blocking the truth about planes-walking from him, he wiped his teacher's mind out of anger. Then, under extreme guilt, he wiped his memory to stop the pain. Jace was a coward in the original lore, but with a past people can relate and sympathize (hurting those you respect out of rage and want to escape). Here? He was used and persecuted, a misunderstood-used-angry-for-a-good-reason-genius, which is cliche to no end.
The intent to make readers sympathize the planeswalkers is way too obvious, eck.
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Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
This one wasn't really a story of how Jace's spark ignited as there was only a short paragraph on that; it was about how he forgot a lot of things, but not as many as Albert the Sphinx.
All in all, pretty good story.
8/10
I don't know a giant mana mining camp seems like a pretty cool setting to me, but I also think mining creates cool stories in real life. The storyline of two warring factions seems pretty solid too and throwing in Jace returning to what he forgot might be interesting. It seems tricky to make the world more magical when people shun the one telepath in town. Another possible location for riggers and contraptions, like Chandra's plane. Possibly more suited for Vryn actually to me, at least. I could easily imagine a plane centered around artifacts generating and filtering mana; the trick for game design would be to find something to do with that mana. A system of resource development in the vein of Minecraft, as I understand it, might be a weird experiment worth attempting, akin to the gold tokens from Theros but much more relevant. This could be similar to how devotion operated in this standard, but open up an avenue for green to not be the only big mana ramping deck as artifacts are open to all.
I agree with Jace being a bit boring. If only they had made the thoughts of others able to overwhelm him, like they did to Watercrafters in the Codex of Alara series if you've ever read it.
As far as Vryn goes, I think it has a lot of potential. It's a plane stuck in perpetual, global war, instigated by the arbiters of "peace". It reminded me of 1984, which is pretty sweet in my mind. Alhammaret's reasoning is solid in my book, he has a place of massive power, and can shape the world as he see fit, while never having to deal with the consequences of his actions. He had the perfect dictatorship, playing both sides off of each other. Now that we know more about the Sphinx, I am pretty upset that he wasn't UB. In my mind, it's the perfect UB character.
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Well Heliod is a known and certified jerk. Wouldn't surprise me if he plays a role in the story.
No, we don't need more poorly thought out, and evil for the sake of evil bad guys. They had the ability to make an actual UB villian, no matter how short lived, and dropped the ball. I see no world where a mono U character would have done the things the sphinx did.
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The author's reasoning of Alhamarret's "stay in power as the arbiter" is also silly, because a telepath of his caliber can easily be in power no matter what he does. Hell, he can convince the major powers to worship him as God. BUT, in doing so, he may risk the balance of power that would end the civilization on Vryn. The only explanation to this dilemma is that Jace might have put in a lot of personal interpretation in what he read in his teacher's mind. Jace was, after all, victims of past abuse, and a telepath like him cannot possibly trust people in general; holders of secrets and lies.
EDIT: For reference, I think Karla from Record of the Lodoss War is somewhat similar to Alhamarret in this regard.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
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Rona, Disciple of Gix
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Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
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"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
I also struggle to not call a being who keeps a plane in perpetual war evil. Going by the conditions Jace lived in, it's not a far stretch to call the world a dystopia when you factor in the never ending war. Using Jace is smart in someways, as Jace has the ability to sneak into enemy camps in order to gain information either side would not give the Sphinx. It was said they don't send representatives that know something they don't want know, to talk to Alhamarret. Sending Jace to spy is the only way he can reliably maintain his grip on the plan. We also don't know how many other Telepaths Alhamarret has done this too, so Jace could have been the last in a very long line.
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Your sentiment is well founded. However, if a villainous character walks like UB and talks like UB, then he's UB.
I believe it was implied that Alhammaret is only one arbiter on Vryn, so I don't think his death will be end of the war. A warring plane seems like an obvious setting for a future block too so I doubt they'd want to lose that set-up.
I know I was actually pretty happy with the story. I dunno what the pay off feels like for someone who has known all these vague details pertianing to Jace's origins for all this time though. I think the one thing I didn't like was the spinning of Alhammarret as a villain. In the end, I guess it turns out that Jace had his memories wiped by Alhammarret as opposed to doing it himself to cope with his killing his master. It seems like a big change as far as motivations are concerned.
I haven't read a lot of fiction involving the subject matter, but I liked how Jace's telepathy is shown earlier on. I can't really explain. It just kind of feels naturally like telepaty would feel like it, like his own thoughts running together, but you realize they are talking in a way that makes it clear they aren't his own thoughts.
Also, kind of like Muzzio, I think they wanted to make Alhammarret appear more mono-blue by having him manipulate people from the sidelines without necessarily removing or killing his enemies outright. It's a thin line and could be interpreted either way, though, and since he wasn't the main character in the story we don't get a whole lot of his underlying thoughts, and thus we don't get extra things solidifying him as mono-blue, like Muzzio's obsession with creating a perfect world run by machines.
But the people behind the barrier knew.
I was utterly disgusted with the character's actions with Elspeth, almost to the point of not wanting to use their cards.
I'm glad he's not a coward exactly but I do kind of miss the, "accidentally wiped his mentor's mind in anger" line more than anything. I'd have liked it more if Jace had been trying to get the information out of the sphinx and in his desire for more tapped into power the Alhammaret had been blocking Xavier style.
Oh well. Let's see where this goes from here.
Pretty sure it was stated that Jace's mega-memory-wipe was a result of him using a Dangerous Forbidden Technique to beat Alhammarret at the mental duel.
I think Alhammarret's stated intentions are pretty mono-blue, i.e. he cares more about the continued existence of the mage-ring network than the people living within it. The assumption that whichever side was about to lose utterly would destroy the mage-rings out of spite might be a reference to something that happened in Vryn's past (since sphinxes can live a pretty long time), or just Alhammarret's assumption that of course unblue, emotionally-driven creatures do stupid things. I could see either one being the case.
The profit motive was a bit weird and black-ish, I agree. Alhammarret selectively deciding which missions he sees fit to have Jace remember, Dimir sleeper agent style, would have been enough to piss off Jace.
Wonder if Jace's personality is intentionally as vague as possible to make it easy for the target audience (teenage-mid-twenties, male, values intelligence, nerdy/possible persecution complex) to identify with him?
Has Heliod become the designated jerkass of Theros at this point? I see more people sympathize with Erebos, Xenagos, and Ashiok, of all people, than him.
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I didn't notice him saying one reason he was manipulating the two sides was to make sure the mage-rings remain standing explicitly, if he did say that then I think that sets him neatly in mono-blue, assuming that he believes that maintaining the mage-rings is most important. I was actually sort of bothered myself if profit was his primary motivation even though as I said I think the distinction would be a thin one at that point.
But the people behind the barrier knew.
Apart from that, I was expecting the
line. The mental battle was ok (a bit rushed, but ok), however I do think that the guilt-wipe was more tragic (and more interesting). Where that info came from?
Also, quite a few words where used on Jace's denied-planeswalk. He could have continued with this line, no need to include money.
EDIT:
The sphinx does state, when it first travel with Jace, that "And as long as each side thinks it can win, that balance holds, and the mage-rings stand. Cities are abandoned intact rather than leveled. Roads and bridges are given up, to be recaptured later. If that ever changes—if either side finds itself in existential danger—then it will destroy everything as it retreats, to deny it to the other. Civilization on Vryn might take centuries to recover—if it ever did."
I'd say the sphinx is like, 7/10 U, 2/10 B, 1/10 W
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I didn't feel like this was a rip-off or an unoriginal story, specially because a telepath would probably hurt someone one day, and would need the help of other telepath. I think everyone is focusing too much on the short scene with the three kids, where the writer was just clearly displaying how hard it was for Jace to handle his powers in many situations. If there is something that bothers me is the fact that all three walkers so far were 'spellcasters' as the sphinx define, meaning that they knew how to use spells without actually learning them, and that is getting boring and repetitive, I hope Gideon and Nissa can kick some asses without using any spells at first.
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).
They probably will. In their Origins banner art, Gideon is shown hefting a spear while Nissa nocks an arrow. Probably just coincidence that we got the three 'walkers who are useless under an anti-magic field first.
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Sig banner thanks to DarkNightCavalier of Heroes of the Plane Studios!