What does he want to conquer with them that he couldn't conquer just by himself?
This is a very important question. What is the purpose of the Eternal Army? (Sidenote: It's pretty nice narratively that we now know what Bolas's plan is/was on Amonkhet but we still don't know why. Keeps cementing him as a planner even in the midst of epic beatdowns.)
I can think of two major areas where Bolas could use them:
1) He needs them to regain oldwalker powers somehow. We know this is the reason he went to Amonkhet, or at least we think we do. Presumably, when he speaks of regaining his power, he refers to his oldwalker powers explicitly. It is possible, however, that he just means the level of power he had as an oldwalker. Personally, I do think he explicitly means his oldwalker powers, but that may not be correct. So the first possibility is that he needs them to do something he cannot in reference to this.
2) The other major point is that while he has proven he can still destroy a plane (with some preparation) and even rule through deceit, the Eternal Army may have been created so that he can rule openly somewhere. Subpoint of this: If he's been able to stockpile lazotep, he could do this again somewhere else, possibly.
Funny how an indestructible god can be defeated by one without indestructible. I guess, The Scorpion God put -1/-1 counters on Rhonas until he died.
We now know that Bolas can to Amonkhet 60 years ago so right after the mending? Before fighting Ajani in Alara?
It has been said in one of the first story of HOU or the last of Amonkhet (can't remember which one) that Bolas came on Amonkhet to corrupt it just a few days before the Great Mending. He still had his God-like powers in those days. He was always talking to himself about how he was in a rush as the mending would strip him of his might in a matter of days.
Extremely well-written story today, looking forward to crying more when Hazoret and Oketra die. Throughout all of this, though, I keep thinking: why is Bolas doing this? What's the point? He has his army of Eternals, what does he gain from destroying the city in the most agonizing, traumatic way possible? He could easily swoop in, collect his zombies, and swoop back out without killing anyone. I really hope it's not just "because he's evil". In one of the recent former stories he muses to himself that destruction is wasteful and that he prefers to manipulate when he can. He's supposed to be a long-term chessmaster, there's no reason to throw away pieces just because you don't need them anymore. They could still be useful in the future some day.
My guess is Bolas is turning Amonkhet into his own personal plane. The set is top-down Bolas world after all.
Here we are... One of my questions is really about this thing: is this army enough for Bolas? Wouldn't he need an indefinite resource of expendable eternal soldiers? They can't be enough to be an enormous army. And I can't see Amonkhet keeping up the work of factory of eternals now that everyone is going to be annihilated. Only the worthy became eternals and I don't think in 60 years of trials there are enough eternals... We saw a curious power in the scarab god... Could he produce new eternals in the lore too?
I think I did some rough math a few days ago, and if one person was killed by Hazoret every day for 50 years (60 minus 10 years for the toddlers to grow up), that would only be like 18-20k Eternals, which doesn't seem to be very many when you consider how large ancient armies and even modern armies were/are. Enough to wipe out the last city of Amonkhet, sure, but enough to conquer other planes? Tough call, but the Eternals aren't 'indestructible' in the rules text, so I assume they can still be wrecked in-story. And if they can be 'killed,' eventually one assumes they'd run out, as it's unlikely Bolas can keep making more on other planes.
And I can't bring myself to think the army was Bolas' main goal; why was it so important when he was about to lose his power? Seems a strange goal.
1 worthy per day? Is it something confirmed or a hypothesis? Because it seems too much for something so difficult to reach. It is entirely possible Bolas has other plans in mind for amonkhet, but the devastation ongoing and the theft of the Planar Bridge engine makes me think it's mostly to get an army to send planeswalking in conquest... of Dominaria, but that's another story.
Sorry, can't trim well on my phone.
Hypothesis, since I don't know how many are killed by Hazoret day-to-day. I wanted to err on the bigger side, one a day, instead of underselling, since even at one a day, it's not a ton of Eternals. (At least, doesn't seem that way to me)
Firstly: if an Amonkhet year is 365 days like ours then thats 21,900 eternals. Thats a pretty good army.
Secondly: I think the most important question to ask when dealing with Bolas' schemes is, "How does this get him closer to his goal of having his oldwalker powers again?" And today something hit me. I've thought for a while that the zombie army idea just didn't work. It relied on some stretches. But if I were to concede that Lazotep allows Bolas to move his army across planes what would he do with it? Reclaim unlimited power of course. How though? Well there's one place I can think of where oldwalker levels of power still exist. The Suns and core of Mirrodin. But that's currently steeped in Phyrexia. But if lazotp can protect againdt the blind eternities why wouldn't it protect from Phyresis and completion? What if his goal os to "save" Mirrodin for his own good?
That's quite the theory but is Creative willing to let their two big bads go head-to-head with each other? It would make a for a good reason to go back at some point.
I have to say though, Karn is still messing up left and right if this is the endgame of Bolas. Everything is always his fault.
Firstly: if an Amonkhet year is 365 days like ours then thats 21,900 eternals. Thats a pretty good army.
Secondly: I think the most important question to ask when dealing with Bolas' schemes is, "How does this get him closer to his goal of having his oldwalker powers again?" And today something hit me. I've thought for a while that the zombie army idea just didn't work. It relied on some stretches. But if I were to concede that Lazotep allows Bolas to move his army across planes what would he do with it? Reclaim unlimited power of course. How though? Well there's one place I can think of where oldwalker levels of power still exist. The Suns and core of Mirrodin. But that's currently steeped in Phyrexia. But if lazotp can protect againdt the blind eternities why wouldn't it protect from Phyresis and completion? What if his goal os to "save" Mirrodin for his own good?
Like I wrote above, I removed 10 years to let toddlers grow up to killing age, so it's less than 20,000 if the days per year are similar to ours, but I hedged up to 20k to account for differences.
And 20k isn't a lot, in the grand scheme. That's less than the US Coast Guard. Or even the NYPD, for that matter. Since the Eternals aren't 'indestructible', I assume they can die (again)/be beat, and if they can die, their numbers will diminish unless Bolas can replenish.
Like you, though, I first thought about Phyrexia, and how the undead may or may not be susceptible to the oil, and how it would reintroduce my fav Magic villains. But then, in light of the info above, 20k tough but beatable zombies against a plane of Phyrexians wouldn't do too hot, I feel. The Blessed Perfection of the Obliterator would be tough to handle, and I assume the Mirrans numbered more than 20k before they were beat.
Either way, though, all this for an army is strange to me.
Firstly: if an Amonkhet year is 365 days like ours then thats 21,900 eternals. Thats a pretty good army.
Secondly: I think the most important question to ask when dealing with Bolas' schemes is, "How does this get him closer to his goal of having his oldwalker powers again?" And today something hit me. I've thought for a while that the zombie army idea just didn't work. It relied on some stretches. But if I were to concede that Lazotep allows Bolas to move his army across planes what would he do with it? Reclaim unlimited power of course. How though? Well there's one place I can think of where oldwalker levels of power still exist. The Suns and core of Mirrodin. But that's currently steeped in Phyrexia. But if lazotp can protect againdt the blind eternities why wouldn't it protect from Phyresis and completion? What if his goal os to "save" Mirrodin for his own good?
Like I wrote above, I removed 10 years to let toddlers grow up to killing age, so it's less than 20,000 if the days per year are similar to ours, but I hedged up to 20k to account for differences.
And 20k isn't a lot, in the grand scheme. That's less than the US Coast Guard. Or even the NYPD, for that matter. Since the Eternals aren't 'indestructible', I assume they can die (again)/be beat, and if they can die, their numbers will diminish unless Bolas can replenish.
Like you, though, I first thought about Phyrexia, and how the undead may or may not be susceptible to the oil, and how it would reintroduce my fav Magic villains. But then, in light of the info above, 20k tough but beatable zombies against a plane of Phyrexians wouldn't do too hot, I feel. The Blessed Perfection of the Obliterator would be tough to handle, and I assume the Mirrans numbered more than 20k before they were beat.
Either way, though, all this for an army is strange to me.
20k isn't a lot of a conventional soldier but an undead highly trained force is something else entirely. It basically gives him military officers that have no choice but to obey him. They may not be the shock troopers storming the shore, but the upper crust giving him absolute control over the rest of his armies.
Also, them being zombies means they can probably take a beating and come back. Even though it isn't part of the token mechanics, zombies are usually recursive in nature.
They also may be immune to something that traditional zombies are weak to? Maybe the lazotep makes them fire resistant? They are faster? I dunno.
I can see the army being useful for one reason, as Bolas scours the multiverse for power, he's going to come up against entire civilizations built around items of import - already defending them from others. The army lets him wage war and gives him a trump card without risking himself. Even if you're all powerful, liliana pointing the chain veil at you may be manageable...but what if the entire gatewatch had items like that? What if they were all defending a city or plane wielding crap like the legacy weapon, chain veil, and mirari. It's an entirely different ball game now.
1) Giving Lazotep Blind Eternity-immunizing powers is unnecessary given the existence of the Planar Bridge with Tezzeret.
2) If he wants his army to do something he can't do himself, there are a couple of options:
a) NOT the Phyrexians. PW spark protects against the oil's corruption. Now, he may feel like he needs 'the edge', but it isn't something he needs them for.
b) ... Emrakul? Maybe he wants to drain the last Titan? Given that it takes an entire plane's mana to fry two of them, she may have enough energy stored in her to revive his oldwalker powers. If true, then he may want a zombie army because we know that she can't mutate them. And he was the one who manipulated their release...
1) Giving Lazotep Blind Eternity-immunizing powers is unnecessary given the existence of the Planar Bridge with Tezzeret.
2) If he wants his army to do something he can't do himself, there are a couple of options:
a) NOT the Phyrexians. PW spark protects against the oil's corruption. Now, he may feel like he needs 'the edge', but it isn't something he needs them for.
b) ... Emrakul? Maybe he wants to drain the last Titan? Given that it takes an entire plane's mana to fry two of them, she may have enough energy stored in her to revive his oldwalker powers. If true, then he may want a zombie army because we know that she can't mutate them. And he was the one who manipulated their release...
No, the planar bridge specifically doesn't protect from the blind eternities, which is why all organic lifeforms Rashmi tried to teleport were destroyed. Lazotep may also have conserving functions so that the zombies don't deteriorate and keep their trained bodies.
I've heard differing sides of the spark prevents Phyresis thing. I'm almost certain thats how it was in the days of the oldwalkers. But Tezz had to get an innoculation against it when he went to infiltrate them.
Tbh I don't think Bolas has any further plans with the Eternals. I'd be suprised if they turn out to be more than a side product of what he's actually trying to achieve.
Like he needs to desecrate the dead to separate them from the soul of their world so he can claim its power or something like that.
Yes he stated that he killed this world's soul in Nissa's defeat but I think he does so just before the confrontation and hasn't actually done it yet.
Because my theory would be that it's the entity Nissa conversed with in "The Writing on the Wall" actually. Which was foreshadowing the current events imo.
What about "Please, he took them all, corrupted them all, end my guilt, I could not protect them—!" and so on.
Also a 60-year-plan that is entirely dependent on Tezzeret maybe finding a way to relocate your army just in time? That sounds kind of shaky.
I think it's probably more a bargaining chip for Tezzeret, fearing the whims of his master considering how often he failed him recently.
Which could of course still be part of yet another bolas plan.
But I don't think the task Bolas assigned Tezzeret with was to find planar portal technology specifically.
Tezzeret probably didn't even know what he was looking for, otherwise he wouldn't have gathered all those different inventors from different specialist areas that were in no way related to what he was meant to find.
Two theories:
1. Sounds like the writing on the wall is nissa speaking with The Scarab God. The 3 corrupted Gods were probably involved in the embalming or burial rituals of the society. Rhonas mentions that he feels/sees a small recognizable part of the scorpion god before he kicks it. She was may e talking to the small part that's left in the scarab god. If his/her job was to safely house souls of the esteemed of society then yeah undeath is a super fail.
So I guess maybe 5 gods of the living and 3 for the dead?
If that's the case, maybe rhonas isn't "dead" but his mana dispersed from the venom. Maybe given time he can reform similar to the demons on innistrad. If that's who she was talking to. Only because whatever she talks with seems to be eternal in nature.
2. On the flip, If she was talking to the "worldsoul" and the Gods were a defense mechanism (like zendikar's roil and elemental like Ashaya) then the world soul failed at protecting itself. While interesting, and certainly a different take, it makes you wonder about other planes if this is the case. Why didn't Dominaria flip out when rifts in time and space were opening all across it? Why was tarkir cool with ugin dying and it's ecosystem being totally thrown for a loop (or him being there in the first place if he wasn't native). I guess invasion block does have crap like the kavu coming out in full force to squash the phyrexians. I dunno.
So I guess I should qualify that hypothesis. I have not read a scrap of Mirrodin/New Phyrexia lore outside of summaries anx bits ive managed to pull from more seasoned Vorthosi here on this forum.
My idea was that Karn shaped everything that was Argentum from an empty bubble, so the suns and maybe the core as well would probably hold MASSIVE amounts of power similar in scale to the maelstrom of the Conflux. Unfortunately, at the very least, the core is corrupted by Phyrexia. And now that walkers are not immune Bolas doesn't want to risk himself so he's building an army to take on the Praetors and their armies.
I should also say that I'm still not convinced that the zombie army was his ultimate goal on Amonkhet. There's just to much assumption going into that theory.
So I guess I should qualify that hypothesis. I have not read a scrap of Mirrodin/New Phyrexia lore outside of summaries anx bits ive managed to pull from more seasoned Vorthosi here on this forum.
My idea was that Karn shaped everything that was Argentum from an empty bubble, so the suns and maybe the core as well would probably hold MASSIVE amounts of power similar in scale to the maelstrom of the Conflux. Unfortunately, at the very least, the core is corrupted by Phyrexia. And now that walkers are not immune Bolas doesn't want to risk himself so he's building an army to take on the Praetors and their armies.
I should also say that I'm still not convinced that the zombie army was his ultimate goal on Amonkhet. There's just to much assumption going into that theory.
That would make for an interesting parallel if Bolas wants to 'eat' Mirrodin/New Phyrexia's core what with Sera's Realm, after Phyrexian invaded it, was colapsed to power the Weatherlight, the ship Karn served on.
1) Giving Lazotep Blind Eternity-immunizing powers is unnecessary given the existence of the Planar Bridge with Tezzeret.
2) If he wants his army to do something he can't do himself, there are a couple of options:
a) NOT the Phyrexians. PW spark protects against the oil's corruption. Now, he may feel like he needs 'the edge', but it isn't something he needs them for.
b) ... Emrakul? Maybe he wants to drain the last Titan? Given that it takes an entire plane's mana to fry two of them, she may have enough energy stored in her to revive his oldwalker powers. If true, then he may want a zombie army because we know that she can't mutate them. And he was the one who manipulated their release...
No, the planar bridge specifically doesn't protect from the blind eternities, which is why all organic lifeforms Rashmi tried to teleport were destroyed. Lazotep may also have conserving functions so that the zombies don't deteriorate and keep their trained bodies.
Per the SOI story, zombies aren't organic lifeforms, as Emrakul could not warp them. In fact, it was a huge plot point as to why Liliana was needed. As such, the Planar Bridge should work quite well with the Eternal, and would explain why NB specifically was looking for an undead army and settled on using Amonkhet given its planar property of reanimating the dead.
Aren't organic and aren't living are two different things. Zombies being immune to Emmy amd being immune to the rigors of the blind eternities are different matters.
I really like how Nicol Bolas seems to be more-or-less an equivalent for the Abrahamic God overtaking the Egyptian gods (small "g" there). That's something in fiction that should be done more outside Philip Pullman novels.
I didn't know where to put this thought, and so I'll just put it here. Mirage was just more flavorful and memorable set and storyline in many more ways than Amonkhet and/or Hour Of Devastation is.
I didn't know where to put this thought, and so I'll just put it here. Mirage was just more flavorful and memorable set and storyline in many more ways than Amonkhet and/or Hour Of Devastation is.
And your reasoning for this is...? Scratch that, what has Mirage to do with Amonkhet at all? It's such a random negative thing to say... so I will just argue against it in a similar way: In my opinion Amonkhet is extremely flavorful and it's tragic storyline much more compelling than many parts of the Weatherlight saga. I will certainly remember it better.
And I'll leave it at that.
I didn't know where to put this thought, and so I'll just put it here. Mirage was just more flavorful and memorable set and storyline in many more ways than Amonkhet and/or Hour Of Devastation is.
I know nothing about the story in Mirage and I hadn't even heard of MTG when that set was a thing, so you can excuse me if I can't exactly share your nostalgic viewpoint.
Moving on, we'll just have to wait and see why Bolas is doing what he's doing; hopefully there's actual exposition on that, unlike his plan to release the Eldrazi.
I didn't know where to put this thought, and so I'll just put it here. Mirage was just more flavorful and memorable set and storyline in many more ways than Amonkhet and/or Hour Of Devastation is.
And your reasoning for this is...? Scratch that, what has Mirage to do with Amonkhet at all? It's such a random negative thing to say... so I will just argue against it in a similar way: In my opinion Amonkhet is extremely flavorful and it's tragic storyline much more compelling than many parts of the Weatherlight saga. I will certainly remember it better.
And I'll leave it at that.
You really needed me to point out Mirage took it's inspiration from a northeastern African setting like Amonkhet took it's inspiration from Egypt?
I didn't know where to put this thought, and so I'll just put it here. Mirage was just more flavorful and memorable set and storyline in many more ways than Amonkhet and/or Hour Of Devastation is.
And your reasoning for this is...? Scratch that, what has Mirage to do with Amonkhet at all? It's such a random negative thing to say... so I will just argue against it in a similar way: In my opinion Amonkhet is extremely flavorful and it's tragic storyline much more compelling than many parts of the Weatherlight saga. I will certainly remember it better.
And I'll leave it at that.
You really needed me to point out Mirage took it's inspiration from a northeastern African setting like Amonkhet took it's inspiration from Egypt?
So we should compare Kaladesh, Tarkir and Kamigawa simply because they are all Asian based? Or Theros and Fiora simply cause they are both Mediterranean based? Or Innistrad and Lorwyn since the both are Western European?
This is comparing limes to oranges bud.
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I didn't know where to put this thought, and so I'll just put it here. Mirage was just more flavorful and memorable set and storyline in many more ways than Amonkhet and/or Hour Of Devastation is.
And your reasoning for this is...? Scratch that, what has Mirage to do with Amonkhet at all? It's such a random negative thing to say... so I will just argue against it in a similar way: In my opinion Amonkhet is extremely flavorful and it's tragic storyline much more compelling than many parts of the Weatherlight saga. I will certainly remember it better.
And I'll leave it at that.
You really needed me to point out Mirage took it's inspiration from a northeastern African setting like Amonkhet took it's inspiration from Egypt?
So we should compare Kaladesh, Tarkir and Kamigawa simply because they are all Asian based? Or Theros and Fiora simply cause they are both Mediterranean based? Or Innistrad and Lorwyn since the both are Western European?
Either way, though, all this for an army is strange to me.
You are not supposed to think about it. Someone thought Bolas raising an undead army would be cool, or they just didn't think of any other reason for why Amonkhet needs to be destroyed. When the time comes this zombie army will make excellent cannon fodder for Chandra's fireballs. Not much else, I think.
I didn't know where to put this thought, and so I'll just put it here. Mirage was just more flavorful and memorable set and storyline in many more ways than Amonkhet and/or Hour Of Devastation is.
And your reasoning for this is...? Scratch that, what has Mirage to do with Amonkhet at all? It's such a random negative thing to say... so I will just argue against it in a similar way: In my opinion Amonkhet is extremely flavorful and it's tragic storyline much more compelling than many parts of the Weatherlight saga. I will certainly remember it better.
And I'll leave it at that.
You really needed me to point out Mirage took it's inspiration from a northeastern African setting like Amonkhet took it's inspiration from Egypt?
So we should compare Kaladesh, Tarkir and Kamigawa simply because they are all Asian based? Or Theros and Fiora simply cause they are both Mediterranean based? Or Innistrad and Lorwyn since the both are Western European?
This is comparing limes to oranges bud.
well, I mean, limes are better than oranges...
And then we will go to Ixalan and put the lime in the coconut.
But honestly it feels really weird to return. As the last set I remember drafting was New Phyrexia and now it will be Hour of Devastation, both being the villain wins sets. So now I hope that Nicol Bolas will go siege New Phyrexia with his lazotep army of the dead.
Either way, though, all this for an army is strange to me.
You are not supposed to think about it. Someone thought Bolas raising an undead army would be cool, or they just didn't think of any other reason for why Amonkhet needs to be destroyed. When the time comes this zombie army will make excellent cannon fodder for Chandra's fireballs. Not much else, I think.
Why? What is so illogical about it? He wants an army that is a) absolutely loyal, b) doesn't die and c) is trained to peak perfection which he can use when manipulation alone just isn't enough to gain control. The Lazotep and the Curse of Wandering made all of that possible and so he created the whole situation on Amonkhet (remember, he created similar situations on other worlds as well, like Alara, just not with the same motivation). He has no use for the rest of Amonkhet, so he'll have some "fun" with it and then he'll probably leave with his army since he has accomplished what he wanted to do. Also: He probably has a grander plan for all he has done so far, though we'll probably not find out much about it this time.
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This is a very important question. What is the purpose of the Eternal Army? (Sidenote: It's pretty nice narratively that we now know what Bolas's plan is/was on Amonkhet but we still don't know why. Keeps cementing him as a planner even in the midst of epic beatdowns.)
I can think of two major areas where Bolas could use them:
1) He needs them to regain oldwalker powers somehow. We know this is the reason he went to Amonkhet, or at least we think we do. Presumably, when he speaks of regaining his power, he refers to his oldwalker powers explicitly. It is possible, however, that he just means the level of power he had as an oldwalker. Personally, I do think he explicitly means his oldwalker powers, but that may not be correct. So the first possibility is that he needs them to do something he cannot in reference to this.
2) The other major point is that while he has proven he can still destroy a plane (with some preparation) and even rule through deceit, the Eternal Army may have been created so that he can rule openly somewhere. Subpoint of this: If he's been able to stockpile lazotep, he could do this again somewhere else, possibly.
Kinda feels like the Gatewatch is going to be saved by other PWs (Ajani, Tamiyo, Ugin?), yeah?
Sorry, can't trim well on my phone.
Hypothesis, since I don't know how many are killed by Hazoret day-to-day. I wanted to err on the bigger side, one a day, instead of underselling, since even at one a day, it's not a ton of Eternals. (At least, doesn't seem that way to me)
Secondly: I think the most important question to ask when dealing with Bolas' schemes is, "How does this get him closer to his goal of having his oldwalker powers again?" And today something hit me. I've thought for a while that the zombie army idea just didn't work. It relied on some stretches. But if I were to concede that Lazotep allows Bolas to move his army across planes what would he do with it? Reclaim unlimited power of course. How though? Well there's one place I can think of where oldwalker levels of power still exist. The Suns and core of Mirrodin. But that's currently steeped in Phyrexia. But if lazotp can protect againdt the blind eternities why wouldn't it protect from Phyresis and completion? What if his goal os to "save" Mirrodin for his own good?
I have to say though, Karn is still messing up left and right if this is the endgame of Bolas. Everything is always his fault.
"Kiora is the Aquaman of planeswalkers."
"Useless and everyone pretends to like her?"
Like I wrote above, I removed 10 years to let toddlers grow up to killing age, so it's less than 20,000 if the days per year are similar to ours, but I hedged up to 20k to account for differences.
And 20k isn't a lot, in the grand scheme. That's less than the US Coast Guard. Or even the NYPD, for that matter. Since the Eternals aren't 'indestructible', I assume they can die (again)/be beat, and if they can die, their numbers will diminish unless Bolas can replenish.
Like you, though, I first thought about Phyrexia, and how the undead may or may not be susceptible to the oil, and how it would reintroduce my fav Magic villains. But then, in light of the info above, 20k tough but beatable zombies against a plane of Phyrexians wouldn't do too hot, I feel. The Blessed Perfection of the Obliterator would be tough to handle, and I assume the Mirrans numbered more than 20k before they were beat.
Either way, though, all this for an army is strange to me.
20k isn't a lot of a conventional soldier but an undead highly trained force is something else entirely. It basically gives him military officers that have no choice but to obey him. They may not be the shock troopers storming the shore, but the upper crust giving him absolute control over the rest of his armies.
Also, them being zombies means they can probably take a beating and come back. Even though it isn't part of the token mechanics, zombies are usually recursive in nature.
They also may be immune to something that traditional zombies are weak to? Maybe the lazotep makes them fire resistant? They are faster? I dunno.
I can see the army being useful for one reason, as Bolas scours the multiverse for power, he's going to come up against entire civilizations built around items of import - already defending them from others. The army lets him wage war and gives him a trump card without risking himself. Even if you're all powerful, liliana pointing the chain veil at you may be manageable...but what if the entire gatewatch had items like that? What if they were all defending a city or plane wielding crap like the legacy weapon, chain veil, and mirari. It's an entirely different ball game now.
2) If he wants his army to do something he can't do himself, there are a couple of options:
a) NOT the Phyrexians. PW spark protects against the oil's corruption. Now, he may feel like he needs 'the edge', but it isn't something he needs them for.
b) ... Emrakul? Maybe he wants to drain the last Titan? Given that it takes an entire plane's mana to fry two of them, she may have enough energy stored in her to revive his oldwalker powers. If true, then he may want a zombie army because we know that she can't mutate them. And he was the one who manipulated their release...
No, the planar bridge specifically doesn't protect from the blind eternities, which is why all organic lifeforms Rashmi tried to teleport were destroyed. Lazotep may also have conserving functions so that the zombies don't deteriorate and keep their trained bodies.
Two theories:
1. Sounds like the writing on the wall is nissa speaking with The Scarab God. The 3 corrupted Gods were probably involved in the embalming or burial rituals of the society. Rhonas mentions that he feels/sees a small recognizable part of the scorpion god before he kicks it. She was may e talking to the small part that's left in the scarab god. If his/her job was to safely house souls of the esteemed of society then yeah undeath is a super fail.
So I guess maybe 5 gods of the living and 3 for the dead?
If that's the case, maybe rhonas isn't "dead" but his mana dispersed from the venom. Maybe given time he can reform similar to the demons on innistrad. If that's who she was talking to. Only because whatever she talks with seems to be eternal in nature.
2. On the flip, If she was talking to the "worldsoul" and the Gods were a defense mechanism (like zendikar's roil and elemental like Ashaya) then the world soul failed at protecting itself. While interesting, and certainly a different take, it makes you wonder about other planes if this is the case. Why didn't Dominaria flip out when rifts in time and space were opening all across it? Why was tarkir cool with ugin dying and it's ecosystem being totally thrown for a loop (or him being there in the first place if he wasn't native). I guess invasion block does have crap like the kavu coming out in full force to squash the phyrexians. I dunno.
My idea was that Karn shaped everything that was Argentum from an empty bubble, so the suns and maybe the core as well would probably hold MASSIVE amounts of power similar in scale to the maelstrom of the Conflux. Unfortunately, at the very least, the core is corrupted by Phyrexia. And now that walkers are not immune Bolas doesn't want to risk himself so he's building an army to take on the Praetors and their armies.
I should also say that I'm still not convinced that the zombie army was his ultimate goal on Amonkhet. There's just to much assumption going into that theory.
Per the SOI story, zombies aren't organic lifeforms, as Emrakul could not warp them. In fact, it was a huge plot point as to why Liliana was needed. As such, the Planar Bridge should work quite well with the Eternal, and would explain why NB specifically was looking for an undead army and settled on using Amonkhet given its planar property of reanimating the dead.
And your reasoning for this is...? Scratch that, what has Mirage to do with Amonkhet at all? It's such a random negative thing to say... so I will just argue against it in a similar way: In my opinion Amonkhet is extremely flavorful and it's tragic storyline much more compelling than many parts of the Weatherlight saga. I will certainly remember it better.
And I'll leave it at that.
I know nothing about the story in Mirage and I hadn't even heard of MTG when that set was a thing, so you can excuse me if I can't exactly share your nostalgic viewpoint.
Moving on, we'll just have to wait and see why Bolas is doing what he's doing; hopefully there's actual exposition on that, unlike his plan to release the Eldrazi.
You really needed me to point out Mirage took it's inspiration from a northeastern African setting like Amonkhet took it's inspiration from Egypt?
So we should compare Kaladesh, Tarkir and Kamigawa simply because they are all Asian based? Or Theros and Fiora simply cause they are both Mediterranean based? Or Innistrad and Lorwyn since the both are Western European?
This is comparing limes to oranges bud.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
You are not supposed to think about it. Someone thought Bolas raising an undead army would be cool, or they just didn't think of any other reason for why Amonkhet needs to be destroyed. When the time comes this zombie army will make excellent cannon fodder for Chandra's fireballs. Not much else, I think.
But honestly it feels really weird to return. As the last set I remember drafting was New Phyrexia and now it will be Hour of Devastation, both being the villain wins sets. So now I hope that Nicol Bolas will go siege New Phyrexia with his lazotep army of the dead.
Why? What is so illogical about it? He wants an army that is a) absolutely loyal, b) doesn't die and c) is trained to peak perfection which he can use when manipulation alone just isn't enough to gain control. The Lazotep and the Curse of Wandering made all of that possible and so he created the whole situation on Amonkhet (remember, he created similar situations on other worlds as well, like Alara, just not with the same motivation). He has no use for the rest of Amonkhet, so he'll have some "fun" with it and then he'll probably leave with his army since he has accomplished what he wanted to do. Also: He probably has a grander plan for all he has done so far, though we'll probably not find out much about it this time.