Oh yeah, that bit about the girl who was Saint Traft's downfall becoming his heir was pretty awesome. I never even noticed her missing finger in the art. Bravo.
Sigarda being the Protector of the people after all this is viable I think, a lot of the demons have been wiped out as well. But true, being the only angel is a huge disadvantage. I imagine, though, that angels are naturally occurring events on Innistrad, in the way that Dragons on Tarkir were. So perhaps they can be reborn anew. With new angelic progenitors. Wishful thinking...
Oh yeah, that bit about the girl who was Saint Traft's downfall becoming his heir was pretty awesome. I never even noticed her missing finger in the art. Bravo.
Sigarda being the Protector of the people after all this is viable I think, a lot of the demons have been wiped out as well. But true, being the only angel is a huge disadvantage. I imagine, though, that angels are naturally occurring events on Innistrad, in the way that Dragons on Tarkir were. So perhaps they can be reborn anew. With new angelic progenitors. Wishful thinking...
Agreed on all of those points. Feel like we need a Story at some point just concerning the rebirth of the church around Traft and Sigarda.
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Vorthos-player with way too much time on his hands and a love of thematic decks.
EDH - Yes, Each One is Named After a Song. I love tying music to my decks.
Second issue is just that the whole second half felt a bit rushed. I mean, couldn't we have had anything more on Arlinn and the werewolves or Olivia and the vampires? A paragraph or two for each? A little outside view from Thalia? And I liked Thalia's view, but I also just wanted more from around her. There's more going on in this battle than just the Brisela confrontation, but we saw none of it. That just bugged me.
I'm curious to know who the two white werewolves are. Hal and Alena?
While this story might have some highlights, the whole plot in general is dry and worn out. It's basically just BfZ again, just on Innistrad instead of Zendikar. We even have the ancient matriarch of vampires (who is leading the last sizable force of sane vampires) striking an uneasy alliance with the badass action-girl leader of the surviving humans. It's all just the same. Two strikes for Wizards. I really hope Kaladesh is better.
Vorthos Cartography - Check out my completed maps of Zendikar and Innistrad!
"You say 'learn from history,' but that does not mean 'learn the same bull***** the people in history learned alongside phrenology and alchemy.'" - The Blinking Spirit
Second issue is just that the whole second half felt a bit rushed. I mean, couldn't we have had anything more on Arlinn and the werewolves or Olivia and the vampires? A paragraph or two for each? A little outside view from Thalia? And I liked Thalia's view, but I also just wanted more from around her. There's more going on in this battle than just the Brisela confrontation, but we saw none of it. That just bugged me.
I'm curious to know who the two white werewolves are. Hal and Alena?
While this story might have some highlights, the whole plot in general is dry and worn out. It's basically just BfZ again, just on Innistrad instead of Zendikar. We even have the the ancient matriarch of vampires (who is leading the last sizable force of sane vampires) striking an uneasy alliance with the badass action-girl leader of the surviving humans. It's all just the same. Two strikes for Wizards. I really hope Kaladesh is better.
The 2 Werewolves are Arllin and Ulrich and maybe will get a POV story about them as other afctiosn aswell, all building towards the final clash agaisnt Emmrakull
So excuse my ignorance, but do these articles have a word or character limit on them? The pacing just feels all sorts of off in so many of them, and I just can't help but feel like there is. If so, I do wish they'd just release these as PDFs or something along those lines. If not then...ugh.
The march towards the wall felt a little distant and hard to relate to. Like there were a few people fighting here or there at the front, but everyone just marched on, and then stuff was going all whack...I dunno. I guess I could have injected a little imagination here but it was hard to follow and feel like progress was being made while an actual semi-battle was unfolding.
The fight scene was fine. I would have liked to see more from Sigarda but I understand the risk of her just feeling like avacyn 2.0. I like her aura affect, I like her persona, and I dig that she isn't as battle hardened as someone like Thalia.
I'm pretty sure Thalia needs to be nerfed. Is there anything she can't do? The story implied a Thalia with invocation of Saint traft and moonsilver spear has waaaay more combat potency than I would have thought lol. Though to be fair, 11 to face is quite a bit...joking aside, I'm a fan of her spotlight. She's a very cool heroine and I like her character immensely. She feels like a more interesting Gideon to me.
I would have liked more werewolf screen time. Also, maybe something regarding the cathars that Arlinn allied with? Fighting alongside them or something.
Olivia continues to please. She's cliche vampire sure, but I just can't get enough. Some more interaction between the vampires and Geist humans would have been nice.
Also, were any spirit human creature subtypes introduced in the card spoilers? Seems like a flavor miss if they didn't.
I think this story is a bit anti-climatic. As much as I dislike the Gatewatch it would still be far more appropriate if this battle took place after they arrived, so all heroes are spectacling - but hopefully not infering - on the final battle against Brisela.
To add insult to injury, Seeta was dealt with like it was nothing. Even in in-universe its anti-climatic. And there were no Flight of Nightmares in sight.
And finally I nearly choked when Brisela started talking in all caps. This quote didn't help:
"YOU SHOULD HAVE ANSWERED WHEN WE CALLED."
But otherwise it was great. Love the building up and all the callbacks, and the tension was definitely there. This truly feels like a final stand.
Thalia essentially soloed that whole boss fight. Which is the larger issue I have that the story has disconnected a bit in the block from the cards.
Thalia had some sweet buffs, though. As a 4/5, Sigarda was no match for Brisela at 9/10, so Thalia's controller cast Sigarda's Aid and flashed in a Moonsilver Spear that attached directly to Thalia. Given that Thalia was implied to somehow have Bands With Angels and Spirits, she internalized the two 4/4 angels from the spear and Invocation of Saint Traft, so she swung in as a first-striking 3/2 with +8/+8, making her an 11/10 with first strike versus Brisela's 9/10 with first strike.
The biggest plot hole is how Thalia's controller managed to grant her Bands With Other, but fuse is kinda like Bands With Duel Masters, so: close enough?
@Glamdring804, so I don't quote you wrong and inadvertently let the spoiler out, that's really disheartening to hear. Hadn't caught that specific detail in the other thread.
And yeah, white wolf is definitely Arlinn, and Ulrich has, at a minimum, a white mane
Vorthos-player with way too much time on his hands and a love of thematic decks.
EDH - Yes, Each One is Named After a Song. I love tying music to my decks.
The fight was fine. I think what would have helped was giving Brisela perhaps a more threatening appearance before that battle. Literally the first and last time we see Brisela, so there wasn't really much to be in awe of, just our own knowledge of what she actually is. Show, don't tell, you know.
@Glamdring804, so I don't quote you wrong and inadvertently let the spoiler out, that's really disheartening to here. Hadn't caught that specific detail in the other thread.
And yeah, white wolf is definitely Arlinn, and Ulrich has, at a minimum, a white mane
Agreed. It really disappoints me, was one of my favorite parts of Innistrad.
Moonsilver Spear and Avacyn's Spear are not the same thing. Avacyns entire Flight used moonsilver spears. I imagine that she got more than just an extra angel and first strike off that spear.
Boring story. Sorry folks, can't relate with this at all. Random cathars and peasants that I couldn't care less about making part of an army and being 'afraid' of eldrazi, a random eldrazi drone encounter with It that Rides as One, different races that fought against each other for centuries quickly allying without so much as a second thought and a cheesy incorporation of a Lord of the Rings scene where spirits join the battleground. Aside from the last part, it was just BFZ rehashed. The final bossfight also very uninspirting, Thalia basically became an anime character to fight Brisela.
Considering there was just one story given for Thalia I really can't relate to her pain and problems at all. The story as a whole just breezed through me, wouldn't even care if Emrakul destroyed Innistrad. I suppose the good news is that I'm alone in my thinking and people think the story was good so... nice job WoTC?
I give this story a generous C-.
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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 enjoyed the amount of Lore we received here, even if it did feel a bit rushed. However, more story (I think) is better than less. They won't add more chapters, so we'll get more information in some episodes.
Overall, I'm liking it as my weekly Magic fix. As I've said elsewhere, some of us are comparing Magic's story to genres and types that it is not trying to be. It's not epic storytelling. It's not a novelization. It's not a film. It's a serialized plot to augment the card game. And I think Wizards has generally figured it out and is on the right track.
My only big thought is: Why hasn't anyone tried to blame demons for this? I would have thought Thalia, Rem, or Traft would have asked, "What are the demons up to?" Sadly, they are completely missing from the equation. I don't need us to see demons (there is not enough space for them), but a reference to them or a character assuming demons are up to something seems like a possible conclusion. Again, not a big deal.
I'll keep on reading each week.
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Dominian Scholar of the Old Guard, specializing in pre-revisionist (Armada comics) and revisionist (Brothers' War through Apocalypse)history
Brisella's death was too rushed, wanetd mroe details on her Flight of Horors also involving Eldrazi Demons(Wizards Why don't we have Eldrazi Demons in card form??)
Also This battle with Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, Spirits and Humans fighting together with soudns crazy epic and an amazing concept so i hope the storyline really gives it justice and expands the poin of view of each faction.
Well, Brisela's death was fast.... Olivia being set-up as a dark savior kinda disgusts me (but if Liliana is called Last Hope, I shouldn't complain)... Otherwise, just another proof there's nothing interesting left in EDM storyline.
I'll echo the sentiment towards Sigarda's portion. Brisela and Sigarda just exchanged a few lines before Thalia stepped in. That part felt like it was added in at the last moment and was very unsatisfying. I was honestly expecting a separate story for that encounter.
Boring story. Sorry folks, can't relate with this at all. Random cathars and peasants that I couldn't care less about making part of an army and being 'afraid' of eldrazi, a random eldrazi drone encounter with It that Rides as One, different races that fought against each other for centuries quickly allying without so much as a second thought and a cheesy incorporation of a Lord of the Rings scene where spirits join the battleground. Aside from the last part, it was just BFZ rehashed. The final bossfight also very uninspirting, Thalia basically became an anime character to fight Brisela.
Considering there was just one story given for Thalia I really can't relate to her pain and problems at all. The story as a whole just breezed through me, wouldn't even care if Emrakul destroyed Innistrad. I suppose the good news is that I'm alone in my thinking and people think the story was good so... nice job WoTC?
I give this story a generous C-.
You're not alone. I think we're kind of in agreement. These last two weeks I just haven't felt like making commentary on the story, which in my opinion is worse than evoking a negative reaction because a negative response still evokes a response. I was hoping it may have just been me, but considering how much shorter your review was this week, I'm beginning to think that I'm not alone. Maybe I'll scrounge enough to go back and decipher where this went wrong, but for now, again I'm just left with no desire to say much more than, "Yeah, what Ashiok said."
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Vive, vale. Siquid novisti rectius istis,
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~
Boring story. Sorry folks, can't relate with this at all. Random cathars and peasants that I couldn't care less about making part of an army and being 'afraid' of eldrazi, a random eldrazi drone encounter with It that Rides as One, different races that fought against each other for centuries quickly allying without so much as a second thought and a cheesy incorporation of a Lord of the Rings scene where spirits join the battleground. Aside from the last part, it was just BFZ rehashed. The final bossfight also very uninspirting, Thalia basically became an anime character to fight Brisela.
Considering there was just one story given for Thalia I really can't relate to her pain and problems at all. The story as a whole just breezed through me, wouldn't even care if Emrakul destroyed Innistrad. I suppose the good news is that I'm alone in my thinking and people think the story was good so... nice job WoTC?
I give this story a generous C-.
You're not alone. I think we're kind of in agreement. These last two weeks I just haven't felt like making commentary on the story, which in my opinion is worse than evoking a negative reaction because a negative response still evokes a response. I was hoping it may have just been me, but considering how much shorter your review was this week, I'm beginning to think that I'm not alone. Maybe I'll scrounge enough to go back and decipher where this went wrong, but for now, again I'm just left with no desire to say much more than, "Yeah, what Ashiok said."
Right about the point where Olivia showed up is where it kind of went south, I believe. Through no fault of Olivia. As many of us have said, 1, that should have been a meeting with Arlinn and the wolves. 2, multiple perspectives would have been nice to show how the battle was occurring on different fronts. 3, Sigarda was handled SOOOOO poorly. No pathos to her encounter with Brisela. No emotional weight to it. No real fight between Sigarda and the remnants of her sisters. 4, how are we supposed to get on board with Sigarda as the new archangel figure when she gets no spotlight or memorable moments?
Things just more or less started a sad spiral after the Geist procession. I was really hoping this fight would be better written than it was. :/
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Vorthos-player with way too much time on his hands and a love of thematic decks.
EDH - Yes, Each One is Named After a Song. I love tying music to my decks.
My only big thought is: Why hasn't anyone tried to blame demons for this? I would have thought Thalia, Rem, or Traft would have asked, "What are the demons up to?" Sadly, they are completely missing from the equation. I don't need us to see demons (there is not enough space for them), but a reference to them or a character assuming demons are up to something seems like a possible conclusion. Again, not a big deal.
That's something I'd like to know as well; where the Hell is Ormendahl in all of this?
Also, did anyone else note the continuity error in that Olivia was still wielding the sword from her card art, and not the sword she stole from Sorin?
Nice catch! I wonder what that means for the chances of that particular plot point to actually become relevant in the future. Are we going to see Olivia, Lady of Innistrad or was that just something the author of the other story thought was cool?
Personally, in that scene I rather enjoyed how the story called out the utter silliness that is Olivia's own sword. How are you stabbing/cutting anything with that thing? Well, I guess it also doubles as a giant bottle opener, so there's that..
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It always a good thing to seek to unnerstand your enemy. You gotta walk a mile in his shoes to unnerstand him, right? Dat way, if he still your enemy, you a mile away and you got his shoes.
-Plateau, troll philosopher
Well, it was better than the generic fights we had on Zendikar, because the enemies involved (Seeta, Brisela) were at least denizens of the plane, as opposed to... indistinguishable Brood Lineages.
However, everything seems so rushed in this story that it's almost as though they're mocking non-planeswalkers as not-important characters that don't deserve much story time and hence have everything shoved into 1 article. We don't have the Gatewatch on Innistrad stories to compare to, but if we get several "Gatewatch defends Thraben with no status quo change" stories in the future...
That being said, I still enjoyed what little characterization we got through all that rushing.
Most importantly though, it seems that Spirits are more or less immune to Emrakul's twisting/madness (logical, considering biology is physical), which fits along the lines of Permeating Mass (I hope that wasn't a spoiler of any sort, I doubt we'll getting a story for that card considering Thalia and Brisela got shoved into one). I think I'll run the theories based on this in the other thread instead.
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Sigarda being the Protector of the people after all this is viable I think, a lot of the demons have been wiped out as well. But true, being the only angel is a huge disadvantage. I imagine, though, that angels are naturally occurring events on Innistrad, in the way that Dragons on Tarkir were. So perhaps they can be reborn anew. With new angelic progenitors. Wishful thinking...
Agreed on all of those points. Feel like we need a Story at some point just concerning the rebirth of the church around Traft and Sigarda.
EDH - Yes, Each One is Named After a Song. I love tying music to my decks.
B Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief B - Fear of the Dark
WG Sigarda, Heron's Grace WG - Strength in Numbers
RG Xenagos, God of Revels RG - Fullmoon (It's werewolves)
RW Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier RW - The End is Nigh
60 Card Kitchen Table Decks
WUB Avacyn, Spirit Ferrier
RG Arlinn Kord's Howlpack
We do know, from the art book.
I'm curious to know who the two white werewolves are. Hal and Alena?
While this story might have some highlights, the whole plot in general is dry and worn out. It's basically just BfZ again, just on Innistrad instead of Zendikar. We even have the ancient matriarch of vampires (who is leading the last sizable force of sane vampires) striking an uneasy alliance with the badass action-girl leader of the surviving humans. It's all just the same. Two strikes for Wizards. I really hope Kaladesh is better.
"You say 'learn from history,' but that does not mean 'learn the same bull***** the people in history learned alongside phrenology and alchemy.'" - The Blinking Spirit
The 2 Werewolves are Arllin and Ulrich and maybe will get a POV story about them as other afctiosn aswell, all building towards the final clash agaisnt Emmrakull
The march towards the wall felt a little distant and hard to relate to. Like there were a few people fighting here or there at the front, but everyone just marched on, and then stuff was going all whack...I dunno. I guess I could have injected a little imagination here but it was hard to follow and feel like progress was being made while an actual semi-battle was unfolding.
The fight scene was fine. I would have liked to see more from Sigarda but I understand the risk of her just feeling like avacyn 2.0. I like her aura affect, I like her persona, and I dig that she isn't as battle hardened as someone like Thalia.
I'm pretty sure Thalia needs to be nerfed. Is there anything she can't do? The story implied a Thalia with invocation of Saint traft and moonsilver spear has waaaay more combat potency than I would have thought lol. Though to be fair, 11 to face is quite a bit...joking aside, I'm a fan of her spotlight. She's a very cool heroine and I like her character immensely. She feels like a more interesting Gideon to me.
I would have liked more werewolf screen time. Also, maybe something regarding the cathars that Arlinn allied with? Fighting alongside them or something.
Olivia continues to please. She's cliche vampire sure, but I just can't get enough. Some more interaction between the vampires and Geist humans would have been nice.
Also, were any spirit human creature subtypes introduced in the card spoilers? Seems like a flavor miss if they didn't.
To add insult to injury, Seeta was dealt with like it was nothing. Even in in-universe its anti-climatic. And there were no Flight of Nightmares in sight.
And finally I nearly choked when Brisela started talking in all caps. This quote didn't help:
But otherwise it was great. Love the building up and all the callbacks, and the tension was definitely there. This truly feels like a final stand.
Thalia had some sweet buffs, though. As a 4/5, Sigarda was no match for Brisela at 9/10, so Thalia's controller cast Sigarda's Aid and flashed in a Moonsilver Spear that attached directly to Thalia. Given that Thalia was implied to somehow have Bands With Angels and Spirits, she internalized the two 4/4 angels from the spear and Invocation of Saint Traft, so she swung in as a first-striking 3/2 with +8/+8, making her an 11/10 with first strike versus Brisela's 9/10 with first strike.
The biggest plot hole is how Thalia's controller managed to grant her Bands With Other, but fuse is kinda like Bands With Duel Masters, so: close enough?
And yeah, white wolf is definitely Arlinn, and Ulrich has, at a minimum, a white mane
EDH - Yes, Each One is Named After a Song. I love tying music to my decks.
B Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief B - Fear of the Dark
WG Sigarda, Heron's Grace WG - Strength in Numbers
RG Xenagos, God of Revels RG - Fullmoon (It's werewolves)
RW Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier RW - The End is Nigh
60 Card Kitchen Table Decks
WUB Avacyn, Spirit Ferrier
RG Arlinn Kord's Howlpack
Agreed. It really disappoints me, was one of my favorite parts of Innistrad.
Considering there was just one story given for Thalia I really can't relate to her pain and problems at all. The story as a whole just breezed through me, wouldn't even care if Emrakul destroyed Innistrad. I suppose the good news is that I'm alone in my thinking and people think the story was good so... nice job WoTC?
I give this story a generous C-.
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).
Overall, I'm liking it as my weekly Magic fix. As I've said elsewhere, some of us are comparing Magic's story to genres and types that it is not trying to be. It's not epic storytelling. It's not a novelization. It's not a film. It's a serialized plot to augment the card game. And I think Wizards has generally figured it out and is on the right track.
My only big thought is: Why hasn't anyone tried to blame demons for this? I would have thought Thalia, Rem, or Traft would have asked, "What are the demons up to?" Sadly, they are completely missing from the equation. I don't need us to see demons (there is not enough space for them), but a reference to them or a character assuming demons are up to something seems like a possible conclusion. Again, not a big deal.
I'll keep on reading each week.
Also This battle with Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, Spirits and Humans fighting together with soudns crazy epic and an amazing concept so i hope the storyline really gives it justice and expands the poin of view of each faction.
Like others I was disappointed in how little Sigarda did. She may as well have not been in the story at all.
Also, did anyone else note the continuity error in that Olivia was still wielding the sword from her card art, and not the sword she stole from Sorin?
"Kiora is the Aquaman of planeswalkers."
"Useless and everyone pretends to like her?"
I did get kind of scared dor a second that sigarda was going to be killed by brisela.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
You're not alone. I think we're kind of in agreement. These last two weeks I just haven't felt like making commentary on the story, which in my opinion is worse than evoking a negative reaction because a negative response still evokes a response. I was hoping it may have just been me, but considering how much shorter your review was this week, I'm beginning to think that I'm not alone. Maybe I'll scrounge enough to go back and decipher where this went wrong, but for now, again I'm just left with no desire to say much more than, "Yeah, what Ashiok said."
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~
Right about the point where Olivia showed up is where it kind of went south, I believe. Through no fault of Olivia. As many of us have said, 1, that should have been a meeting with Arlinn and the wolves. 2, multiple perspectives would have been nice to show how the battle was occurring on different fronts. 3, Sigarda was handled SOOOOO poorly. No pathos to her encounter with Brisela. No emotional weight to it. No real fight between Sigarda and the remnants of her sisters. 4, how are we supposed to get on board with Sigarda as the new archangel figure when she gets no spotlight or memorable moments?
Things just more or less started a sad spiral after the Geist procession. I was really hoping this fight would be better written than it was. :/
EDH - Yes, Each One is Named After a Song. I love tying music to my decks.
B Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief B - Fear of the Dark
WG Sigarda, Heron's Grace WG - Strength in Numbers
RG Xenagos, God of Revels RG - Fullmoon (It's werewolves)
RW Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier RW - The End is Nigh
60 Card Kitchen Table Decks
WUB Avacyn, Spirit Ferrier
RG Arlinn Kord's Howlpack
That's something I'd like to know as well; where the Hell is Ormendahl in all of this?
Nice catch! I wonder what that means for the chances of that particular plot point to actually become relevant in the future. Are we going to see Olivia, Lady of Innistrad or was that just something the author of the other story thought was cool?
Personally, in that scene I rather enjoyed how the story called out the utter silliness that is Olivia's own sword. How are you stabbing/cutting anything with that thing? Well, I guess it also doubles as a giant bottle opener, so there's that..
-Plateau, troll philosopher
LIKE LOLWUTZ.
I can understand for Bruna, battle wise, but for her to be swiped as easily like that without any inkling on what she was doing before this battle?
- I got to agree with some, overall this felt really rushed and constrained...
- One of my only favourite parts was when St. Traft summoned the Thraben geists... I just visualized it in my brain while reading, it was glorious~
- At least I got some dose of Olivia sass~
Serra Stan - Angel Enthusiast - Garruk and Tyvar thirsty follower - Flavor and Art Enthusiast
However, everything seems so rushed in this story that it's almost as though they're mocking non-planeswalkers as not-important characters that don't deserve much story time and hence have everything shoved into 1 article. We don't have the Gatewatch on Innistrad stories to compare to, but if we get several "Gatewatch defends Thraben with no status quo change" stories in the future...
That being said, I still enjoyed what little characterization we got through all that rushing.
Most importantly though, it seems that Spirits are more or less immune to Emrakul's twisting/madness (logical, considering biology is physical), which fits along the lines of Permeating Mass (I hope that wasn't a spoiler of any sort, I doubt we'll getting a story for that card considering Thalia and Brisela got shoved into one). I think I'll run the theories based on this in the other thread instead.