I feel like it might be quite too early to be judging Baral as a character. We haven't seen enough of him or learned his motivations and I expect that we will get much more characterization for him.
Baral is a minor villain so im fine with him been cartoonish. Not every villain needs to be uber complex
A character doesn't need to be a sadist to be a villain. Being selfish would suffice fully. Baral could have been a mage who, out of fear for being executed himself, used his mage abilities to hunt down other mages and thus secure his own position in the hierarchy of the consulate, drawing away suspicion from himself. Bam, suddenly you have an evil character with an actual motive and all of that in two lines of text.
Instead we got "MWAHAHAHAHA *twirls mustache*" levels of stupid. Man, I can already see him trying to kill Chandra in the most convoluted and time-consuming way possible, giving the gatewatch more than a chance to free her in time. Bonus points if he will "curse those meddling kids" when defeated.
Also, he still needs to kick that gremlin grub to show just how evil he is.
Or, better yet, they could honor TPF and actually make Chandra guilty of accidental destruction, making him immediately well-intentioned even if he wasn't particularly sympathetic.
Slightly off topic, I thought that most of TPF was still canon (figured Chandras guilt post-origins was that Baral was after her and that if she hadn't been around her parents won't have died) since they mentioned the Order of Heliud and having Gideon and Chandra having already known each other (biggest reason Gideon even went to Zendikar the first time IIRC) but then Gideon says Chandra never mentioned to the Gatewatch her past which was what kept her from being strip of her fire. I'd say that the planeswalkers book shouldn't be taken canon since they where written by someone outside of wizards, but AoA seems mostly in tact.
The rule to me seems to be its canon until its not. So I think, at this piont, we can say everything in the TPF happened, except for Chandra telling Gideon what happened to her family. Or she told him a version that left out a few details, so that when Baan showed up, Gideon was unable to connect the dots. Either way, it makes sense that even if the Consulate and the Order aren't the same, functionally they'd be the same in Chandra's mind.
...Is nobody taking into account Baral's chat with Pia happened after Chandra set his everything on fire, and he got in trouble for the excessive use of funds to hunt a small child who then burned most of his face off?
Cause on the one hand he was a sorta jerkbag Knigth's Templar in Fire Logic. And clearly had a hard-on for power and wasn't disgusted cutting off the heads of little girls. But I can see him being far more interested in Chandra and her family suffering after, you know, Chandra exploded and set him on fire.
I don't think people are giving Baral's psychology enough credit here.
The guy's a Knight Templar extremist bully through and through, although you can see his reasons for being so. They're not sympathetic reasons at all, but they are there.
First, the guy's a mage on a plane that's not a fan of non-artificer mages. Hence, likely treated as an outcast as a kid. Parents probably weren't exactly the most supportive either, if I'm guessing. Anyways, guy becomes a Consulate guard, gets a bit of power in him. Suddenly, he's not the outcast mage anymore, he's got power, and his magic powers are now considered valuable (maybe they're not known as magic powers, but whatever he does and however he presents it, its working for him). He gets promoted, moves up in the world. Still bitter that he was looked down on, and like any good bitter person who's suddenly been lifted up into power, its not a good combination. A draconian extremist mentality sets in.
Then he meets Chandra. First he's piqued that there's another mage just like him. Then he discover's she's a pyromancer, the worst kind of mage by Kaladeshi standards- a veritible bug of society. Oh, he's gonna look so good when he hauls this vermin in!
And then she runs away, and blows up the Foundry. I'm gonna bet that gets put on his head (Baan did mention that he got in trouble for making things so expensive, and it probably started with this). Now the little brat's made him look bad, and by Aether, he's gonna get her and drag her in and make her pay. So he starts investigating her whereabouts, no longer just to feel powerful about kicking a lesser mage around, but to save face with the Consulate. And during his investigation he finds out that not only does the brat escape out of the city from him, she does so with her parents, who are totally on board and proud to have a pyromancer daughter.
OH. HELL. NAW.
Why does this little destructive ***** get to run around in freedom wholly supported by her criminal mommy and daddy? His magic's is used for GOOD, and all he did was get kicked around for it. Her magic is BAD, and yet she's loved and coddled and... OH THAT LITTLE BRAT IS GONNA GET IT!
So now its not just a matter of dominance, its not just a matter of saving face with the Bosses, its flipping PERSONAL. Who cares if she's a kid, because evil can take any form, and it needs to be eradicated regardless. If this guy was in The Omen, he woulda stabbed Damien in his cradle.
So he goes into full Knight Templar mode. Scours the plane looking for three people on the run- pisses his bosses off even more, because now in addition to a ruined foundry, he's using up valuable resources up on three black-market smugglers. But it's all gonna be worth it, just as soon as he brings them to JUSTICE.
And so he does. He finds them, captures Pia, then gets Chandra. Suddenly it occurs to him, as he's about to haul Chandra off, that he just spent a Thopterload of money on hunting down an 11-year old girl. He knows she's the worst thing in existence- but will his bosses?
Nope, time to save face.
First, just to hurt Chandra even more (like I said, its personal in his mind), he kills Kiran in cold blood. Then he frames her for the villiage- two reasons here- one, to let Chandra know that HE has the power... and secondly, because he can now point out to his bosses just how dangerous the girl really is, and the expenses to bring her in were completely warranted. Power, revenge, and saving-face. What more could a guy want?
Except it doesn't really work that way- the Consulate's still not impressed, and formal charges are brought against him for wasting too many resources on the search. All that's left to him is the fact that, at the end of the day, he gets to execute the evil, flamey-handed, villiage destroying*, witch.
And then even that backfires. He raises the sword, bring it down, and BOOM! Apparently pyromancers explode when they die. Kinda wish the consulate training manual had mentioned that. He's engulfed in the flames from her "death" (totally unaware its actually a free trip to Pyromancertopia on Regatha), and disfigured for life as a result. Yet again, a moment of triumph has been taken from him and turned into a moment of humiliation and agony. He's been disgraced. He's been written up. Possibly he's been demoted. And now he's been deformed. All because of one little girl- and even worse, he can't get anymore revenge, because she's "dead"
There's just one person left he can kick around. One more way he can hurt the evil little girl, even after she's gone. Her mother, now sitting in a jail cell. Its the one part of his life that he can show dominance in right now, and really, Pia enabled Chandra, so she's just as bad. Torturing her would be the right thing to do. He can't do anything physically, but whipping out ye olde emotional salt and rubbing in ye olde emotional wounds? Well, if that's the best he can do, then so be it. And off he goes.
So yeah, I can't buy him as cartoon- he's not evil just because he's evil- he's an emotionally bitter, broken man who masks his insecurities behind a veil of power, authority, and his own brand of justice. Authoritarian dictatorships the world over have been havens for people like this. Remember, there's been plenty of real-life people who were more than happy to brutally kill children because they fit into some "evil" demographic.
That's even worse. "Boohoo muh twagic Nawuto backstowy"
Public Mod Note
(Jivanmukta):
Warning for Trolling - Jiv
That's even worse. "Boohoo muh twagic Nawuto backstowy"
Never saw Naruto, so I wouldn't know. But yes, chances are the story's always going to be accused of being derivative of something or another, considering its 2016 and pretty much every plotline/backstory's been done at one point of another. If somethings going to be new and groundbreaking, its probably not going to come from a weekly free story posting on a card game website. Maybe you'd be happier if you lowered your expectations a bit? This ain't a song of Ice and Fire.
That's even worse. "Boohoo muh twagic Nawuto backstowy"
Never saw Naruto, so I wouldn't know. But yes, chances are the story's always going to be accused of being derivative of something or another, considering its 2016 and pretty much every plotline/backstory's been done at one point of another. If somethings going to be new and groundbreaking, its probably not going to come from a weekly free story posting on a card game website. Maybe you'd be happier if you lowered your expectations a bit? This ain't a song of Ice and Fire.
It's not that it's derivative, it's that it's incredibly cheap and stupid.
I think Pollaski's interpretation is infinitely better than everyone just spouting how "cartoonish" the character is, which by the way is a poor critique even when it is accurate.
I think Pollaski's interpretation is infinitely better than everyone just spouting how "cartoonish" the character is, which by the way is a poor critique even when it is accurate.
^This, there's nothing wrong with this kind of character existing. These types of sociopaths do exist and like Pollaski said
Authoritarian dictatorships the world over have been havens for people like this.
. It's not like every single villain we see in MTG behaves like this. If that were the case, and if this becomes a frequently used trope, then we have a problem. Otherwise, it's kewl, and Pollaski's interpretation of the character is quite interesting if not satisfying to me.
I also feel like some peoples' expectations are a bit too high...I mean, I'm happy we even have them at all by this point .-. So many people don't even seem to know these stories exist. When I was in the twitch chat of...Grand Prix Indianapolis, I believe?...and I mentioned Jace's encounter with Emrakul and how things aren't as they seem from simply following the story through the cards...people had no idea what I was talking about. I think only one other person commented on the events. I even had to link regulars to the mothership's story article because they had no idea where to find it! And at my LGS things aren't much better...
I sometimes feel like all that time I spent enjoying the old books and lore has been completely pointless because so few people are actually invested (and they retcon everything anyway).
I sometimes feel like all that time I spent enjoying the old books and lore has been completely pointless because so little people are actually invested (and they retcon everything anyway).
Screw everyone else, dude. The fact is, you enjoyed it, and thats what mattered. Yeah, it sucks that there's a lot of players that aren't as into the story, but that's their loss.
The retconning... yeah. It sucks to get emotionally invested in a story like TPF, especially considering Chandra's origin story...and then have it yanked away into something different a few years later. Hopefully they now have more clear direction where they're going, and it should keep the retconning to a smaller level.
I think Pollaski's interpretation is infinitely better than everyone just spouting how "cartoonish" the character is, which by the way is a poor critique even when it is accurate.
But it is cartoonish. There is literally no nuance to the guy than just being evil for the sake of evil. The fact that it is deliberately an effort to eradicate nuance makes it obvious.
I think Pollaski's interpretation is infinitely better than everyone just spouting how "cartoonish" the character is, which by the way is a poor critique even when it is accurate.
But it is cartoonish. There is literally no nuance to the guy than just being evil for the sake of evil. The fact that it is deliberately an effort to eradicate nuance makes it obvious.
Whatever faults one may have with the theorized backstory, it's not "evil for the sake of evil". It's a very human reason to do something that most would perceive as evil. I'm not really sure what you want, but something on that level is much better than the current seemingly sociopathic guy we have, and is a very White villain.
Well, today's story was the best I liked Nissa so far and probably the most original take on a black character yet. I liked it. And I especially liked that both the plot advanced and we got some world building. Those two were seperate far too often in the past few blocks.
Nice world building while been connected to the main plot wich are the stories i enjoy the most. I imagine that the Aetherborn will enjoy the revolt quite alot. They are going to die soon anyways mgiht aswell make it memorable and there isn't anything more memorable then a good old revolution
That was pretty sad. Aetherborn are definitely a Black aspect I can relate to, they feel very different from the usual Black characters. I hope that the narrator gets a card next set, really liked them.
This was delightful story; I really enjoyed the first person narrative to avoid pronoun concerns for an aetherborn character. I also enjoyed Yahenni and the concept that they know exactly when they expire while stuffing as much life into that time as possible. I also liked Yahenni's dilemma towards the end, and wonder if that will come up in Aether Revolt. For now though, I'm content with where things are going and wish I could attend one of Yahenni's parties
Wow. That was quite possibly the most beautiful short story I've read in months.
The Aetherborn are a fascinating race of people. For me they are already MTG's best original species since the Myr.
The narrator was very likable and the story moved fluidly. I'm not going to nitpick; this was very well-written.
Two emphatic thumbs up...and I would like to see a bit more of this character before he/he flames out.
Interesting story this week. Cool insight into the nature of Aetherborn. Empathic sense, innate knowledge of how long they have left, cool stuff. Yahenni's is a character I hope we get in Revolt, they're dilemma to employ the vampiric drain, to extend they're life at the cost of another's, great stuff.
Really good story, and the mortality aspect was surprisingly more relatable than I'd expected. And I like how they've still got that Black aspect to them, thinking about going to drain life from the bad guys. Do ya hocus pocus thing
I thought today's story was absolutely excellent. A wonderful way to explore some key aspects of a new race, providing information to the reader in a very enjoyable way. It was also refreshing to get a view of Planeswalkers from someone else's perspective that was in itself, enlightening for the reader.
Like others I would really hope that we hear more of Yahenni's story within the wider context of the overarching story arc.
Anyone else think Yahenni is Green/Black? They did make friends with two mono-Green characters and one from Green's allied colours.
Aside from being a product of nature, they strike me more red than green. Empathy is a large red trait. But I definitely see green.
Red and Green both have empathic leaning capacity. Though it seems that Aetherborn all have the empathy sense. So I don't think we can determin Tahenni's colors by it.
I do hope we see this character again and that he interacts with Nissa.
Something in my chest sings a little, but the song isn't for me. My waking mind tells me to ignore the strange humming I feel at a distance. I turn to Chandra.
That line was interesting to me and I hope it'll be brought up again.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern
Affinity
UW Control
Commander
Sidisi, Undead Vizier
Purphoros, God of the Forge
Dragonlord Ojutai
Gishath, Sun's Avatar
The Ur-Dragon
I do hope we see this character again and that he interacts with Nissa.
Something in my chest sings a little, but the song isn't for me. My waking mind tells me to ignore the strange humming I feel at a distance. I turn to Chandra.
That line was interesting to me and I hope it'll be brought up again.
Sounds like Aetherborn, or at least Yahenni, can feel when someone uses Magic.
I do hope we see this character again and that he interacts with Nissa.
Something in my chest sings a little, but the song isn't for me. My waking mind tells me to ignore the strange humming I feel at a distance. I turn to Chandra.
That line was interesting to me and I hope it'll be brought up again.
Sounds like Aetherborn, or at least Yahenni, can feel when someone uses Magic.
Considering how Nissa likens them to elementals its more probable that the same spell she uses to call out and craft elementals resonates with the aetherborn because they are at heart elementals.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
The rule to me seems to be its canon until its not. So I think, at this piont, we can say everything in the TPF happened, except for Chandra telling Gideon what happened to her family. Or she told him a version that left out a few details, so that when Baan showed up, Gideon was unable to connect the dots. Either way, it makes sense that even if the Consulate and the Order aren't the same, functionally they'd be the same in Chandra's mind.
Cause on the one hand he was a sorta jerkbag Knigth's Templar in Fire Logic. And clearly had a hard-on for power and wasn't disgusted cutting off the heads of little girls. But I can see him being far more interested in Chandra and her family suffering after, you know, Chandra exploded and set him on fire.
That's even worse. "Boohoo muh twagic Nawuto backstowy"
Never saw Naruto, so I wouldn't know. But yes, chances are the story's always going to be accused of being derivative of something or another, considering its 2016 and pretty much every plotline/backstory's been done at one point of another. If somethings going to be new and groundbreaking, its probably not going to come from a weekly free story posting on a card game website. Maybe you'd be happier if you lowered your expectations a bit? This ain't a song of Ice and Fire.
It's not that it's derivative, it's that it's incredibly cheap and stupid.
^This, there's nothing wrong with this kind of character existing. These types of sociopaths do exist and like Pollaski said . It's not like every single villain we see in MTG behaves like this. If that were the case, and if this becomes a frequently used trope, then we have a problem. Otherwise, it's kewl, and Pollaski's interpretation of the character is quite interesting if not satisfying to me.
I also feel like some peoples' expectations are a bit too high...I mean, I'm happy we even have them at all by this point .-. So many people don't even seem to know these stories exist. When I was in the twitch chat of...Grand Prix Indianapolis, I believe?...and I mentioned Jace's encounter with Emrakul and how things aren't as they seem from simply following the story through the cards...people had no idea what I was talking about. I think only one other person commented on the events. I even had to link regulars to the mothership's story article because they had no idea where to find it! And at my LGS things aren't much better...
Affinity
UW Control
Commander
Sidisi, Undead Vizier
Purphoros, God of the Forge
Dragonlord Ojutai
Gishath, Sun's Avatar
The Ur-Dragon
Screw everyone else, dude. The fact is, you enjoyed it, and thats what mattered. Yeah, it sucks that there's a lot of players that aren't as into the story, but that's their loss.
The retconning... yeah. It sucks to get emotionally invested in a story like TPF, especially considering Chandra's origin story...and then have it yanked away into something different a few years later. Hopefully they now have more clear direction where they're going, and it should keep the retconning to a smaller level.
But it is cartoonish. There is literally no nuance to the guy than just being evil for the sake of evil. The fact that it is deliberately an effort to eradicate nuance makes it obvious.
Whatever faults one may have with the theorized backstory, it's not "evil for the sake of evil". It's a very human reason to do something that most would perceive as evil. I'm not really sure what you want, but something on that level is much better than the current seemingly sociopathic guy we have, and is a very White villain.
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/born-aether-2016-09-21
This was delightful story; I really enjoyed the first person narrative to avoid pronoun concerns for an aetherborn character. I also enjoyed Yahenni and the concept that they know exactly when they expire while stuffing as much life into that time as possible. I also liked Yahenni's dilemma towards the end, and wonder if that will come up in Aether Revolt. For now though, I'm content with where things are going and wish I could attend one of Yahenni's parties
The Aetherborn are a fascinating race of people. For me they are already MTG's best original species since the Myr.
The narrator was very likable and the story moved fluidly. I'm not going to nitpick; this was very well-written.
Two emphatic thumbs up...and I would like to see a bit more of this character before he/he flames out.
Click the pic for more info.
Nissa was also bearable.
Aside from being a product of nature, they strike me more red than green. Empathy is a large red trait. But I definitely see green.
Like others I would really hope that we hear more of Yahenni's story within the wider context of the overarching story arc.
Red and Green both have empathic leaning capacity. Though it seems that Aetherborn all have the empathy sense. So I don't think we can determin Tahenni's colors by it.
That line was interesting to me and I hope it'll be brought up again.
Affinity
UW Control
Commander
Sidisi, Undead Vizier
Purphoros, God of the Forge
Dragonlord Ojutai
Gishath, Sun's Avatar
The Ur-Dragon
Sounds like Aetherborn, or at least Yahenni, can feel when someone uses Magic.