MTG Salvation

Who was the woman at the end of the story? Nissa perhaps?

I actually really liked this story. All their virtues - faith, heroism, love - were for naught, everyone died. Even self-sacrifice achieved nothing - "'The child is . . . I will,' she sobbed. 'I will . . . save the child.'" Not hard to figure out what she decided not to say. Gut punch after gut punch. There are no heroes here, only victims.

I agree Oketra being embalmed and Bolas's reaction to the girl wielding Oketra's arrows were interesting details. But what a waste of a story this week. This wasn't like Hal and Elena or Hapatra where anyone cares. If the plot advanced I'd be more interested in what we saw this week, but it cheapened these stories to know it didn't go anywhere. Splice them into something that goes somewhere and the reader would get more attached. As it is, this was just an interlude about nobodies.

It'll be annoying if we get literally everything relevant detail jammed into the very last story too.

I was expecting this story to be the fight between Hazoret + everyone not gatewatch/dead vs Scorpion. This was just dark and little too edgy for me. I assume that the attempted embalming was just a throw-away line about the autonomy of mummies and this doesn't actually work with beings made of mana but I dunno.

I feel like this story didn't accomplish anything in the grand scheme of things. I don't need to read about a bunch of random people dying to understand how messed up Amonkhet is now.

I for one really enjoyed seeing the devastation of Amonkhet from normal citizens' perspectives. I also take it as a good sign that WOTC and Creative have noticed that people want to hear from more than just planeswalkers. I remember hearing once or twice from WOTC and Creative that it's impossible to always please everyone with the stories, as different people want to see different perspectives. Because of this reality, they have started to keep in mind that there needs to be something for everyone, a story for every type of reader if possible. In Hour of Devastation alone now we have viewed the story from the perspectives of a planeswalker, a vizier, other protagonists (Samut namely), multiple of the gods, and now multiple citizens. If this isn't a sign of Creative doing their best to make sure everyone gets to find a story they like, then I don't know what will prove that. Some people will find this story boring and pointless. Others, such as myself, will appreciate being able to view the disaster from these "normal" perspectives. It has been pretty obvious thus far that nothing good is going to happen in this set for the people of Amonkhet, aside from maybe survival for some. Still, I personally found this story to add another more personal level of depth to that disaster. At the end of the day, everyone will have their own opinions, and that is okay. Just know that even though you may not enjoy a story, that does not make it pointless

I am most pleased with this story. That said, it might have to do with how I enjoy a particular subset of fiction... and this definitely felt like reading about what happens after an Imperium colony wakes up a Necron Tomb World.

Who do you think the child is?

Doesn't matter, it's dead.

This weeks story was . . . fine. I would have preferred one short story rather than several micro stories. I love when WOTC focuses on the normal citizens of the plane but we didn't spend enough time with any of these characters to make me care about them. Oh well. Looking forward to next week.

I don't know, I'm kind of sick of these stories. Everyone is always pissing and moaning about the Gatewatch and all, but this plotline has just been getting darker and darker. Starting with Rhonas' brutal and "shocking" death, stuff like Kefnets' followers listening for profundity in Kefnet's last moments and only hearing confused death gurgling (or something), and now ending with this piece. Maybe the last bit of this piece just really affected me because it made me think of my own kids (pretty sure the child is dead, too, and the "savior" was about to say that but decided not to spare Amenakhte). It wasn't bad by any means, and I guess it gets some of the points across like Mister M mentioned, but I was also a little disappointed that it was light on plot progression. I don't know, I'll keep tuning in every week to follow the story, but I really hope this satiates the bloodlust of some of those clamoring for death to everyone and the Gatewatch and we can move on with something less dark.

Maybe I'm just at the stage in my life where I need a little less brutality in my escapism which hasn't traditionally had that much overt brutality in it. If I wanted stuff like this I'd go partake in something billed as such. I understand that I can always just not read it, and there are people that enjoy this kind of wanton destruction, but if people are allowed to voice their utter contempt for the Gatewatch I can voice my dislike for what they are doing here.

I wasn't expecting it to go this dark, as child murder is usually something that WOTC would avoid, but I will applaud them for really taking away any idea that Bolas and his Eternals could have a redeeming quality. Magic villains are typically just "I'm bad because the plot says so," and this is giving us very real display of the kind of narcissistic nihilist that Bolas really is. So, solid job I would say.

I thought this week's story was great, although I totally understand why it's divisive. It certainly wasn't... pleasant.

I loved this story. Didn't really advance the plot much (other than the Eternals showing up), but by god, the atmosphere of the piece was devastatingly tragic.

Far too often in disaster movies (and HOU is a straight up disaster movie), you don't really humanize the people who die in the big disaster- the entire thing focuses on the protagonists and their quest to not get killed. So while you watch downtown LA fall into a chasm in 2012, or New York blow up in Independence Day, you just see a bunch of buildings blowing up/collapsing, with maybe a few CG bodies tumbling at a distance, along with masses of people running, knowing its fruitless, but you never see the actual end. (This is intentional for two reasons- 1. Most disaster movies want a PG-13 rating for wider appeal, 2. They're popcorn action flicks, and actually thinking about the lives being ended and tragedy of it all kinda kills the mood.

With literature, especially serial literature that's going to give us a week to digest this before moving on to the two climactic pieces (Samut's sparking and the Gatewatch vs. Bolas) you can go a bit darker, and they've done a great job here. They've done a fantastic job all sequence of showing this tragedy through the eyes of the Amonkhetis themselves, and by focusing on five different protagonists, not only do we get a great view of the scope of the Eternal's slaughter, but we also get a myriad of reactions to their arrival. We have the woman who goes completely insane, and effectively commits suicide by Eternal. We have the brave woman who stands in their way, fighting the futile fight so that others may (hopefully) escape. We have the tragic Romeo, who only wants to find his lover, only to see she's been mindcontrolled. We see the hotheaded avenger, keen to make this fraud of a God-Pharaoh pay for what happened to Oketra- only to discover she's barely even a fly to him. And we see the dying man, his last thoughts on protecting another, praying for deliverance, not knowing that the one he wants to protect tragically no longer needs it.

And overall lies the fact that up until literally five hours ago, these people thought this was going to be the best, most glorious day of their life.

Its dark, and bleak, but I think we need to see it.

As for who the savior is, there's really only five options- Samut, Nissa, Chandra, or Hapatra. Or someone nameless, which wouldn't shock me. In the end, it doesn't really matter, because that's not the point. Neither is who the child might have been. The focus is on the tragedy of it all.

Quote from Kazooki117 »

I don't know, I'm kind of sick of these stories. Everyone is always pissing and moaning about the Gatewatch and all, but this plotline has just been getting darker and darker. Starting with Rhonas' brutal and "shocking" death, stuff like Kefnets' followers listening for profundity in Kefnet's last moments and only hearing confused death gurgling (or something), and now ending with this piece. Maybe the last bit of this piece just really affected me because it made me think of my own kids (pretty sure the child is dead, too, and the "savior" was about to say that but decided not to spare Amenakhte). It wasn't bad by any means, and I guess it gets some of the points across like Mister M mentioned, but I was also a little disappointed that it was light on plot progression. I don't know, I'll keep tuning in every week to follow the story, but I really hope this satiates the bloodlust of some of those clamoring for death to everyone and the Gatewatch and we can move on with something less dark.

Maybe I'm just at the stage in my life where I need a little less brutality in my escapism which hasn't traditionally had that much overt brutality in it. If I wanted stuff like this I'd go partake in something billed as such. I understand that I can always just not read it, and there are people that enjoy this kind of wanton destruction, but if people are allowed to voice their utter contempt for the Gatewatch I can voice my dislike for what they are doing here.

The story of a set called Hour of Devastation can pretty safely be expected to be grim and brutal. Hang in there, Ixalan looks like a relatively lighthearted swashbuckling adventure story.

Personally, I like this story less for its brutality than for the way it pulls on my heartstrings. I found a little something of myself in each of this week's POV characters. I didn't like seeing them die, but sometimes a little catharsis feels good in its own way. That said, by the time Hour of Devastation stories are over, I'll probably be hoping for something a little more lighthearted, too.

I must admit I am somewhat baffled by the reactions to todays story. It served no purpose? Isn't the purpose of a story to entertain, to make you think and/or feel? I don't see why a story has to advance a plot, if it is otherwise interesting to read. What has reading Magic stories become to? Some sort of weird competition? We have to advance in plot as fast as possible? What?

Personally, this story was a highlight for me. I am not one to bash the gatewatch, because I can understand WotC's decision, but man is it strange to feel much more sorry for a character I met for 5 lines than someone who's been plastered over every second Magic merchandise article. This story accomplished more for me than the entirety of the Zendikar arc. Speaking of which, as I said during the Zendikar stories, this kind of story really was missing from Return to Zendikar: A broad overview of short snippets over what the entire world is going through. You can think of the gatewatch what you want, but the conflict of Zendikar was supposed to be planewide, but yet we only followed the same 4 offworld protagonists and 3 native supporting characters.

I am glad they have taken the conflict to where it belongs: To the people of Naktamun. The gatewatch really is just an excuse to visit this world after all.

I must admit I am somewhat baffled by the reactions to todays story. It served no purpose? Isn't the purpose of a story to entertain, to make you think and/or feel? I don't see why a story has to advance a plot, if it is otherwise interesting to read. What has reading Magic stories become to? Some sort of weird competition? We have to advance in plot as fast as possible? What?

Personally, this story was a highlight for me. I am not one to bash the gatewatch, because I can understand WotC's decision, but man is it strange to feel much more sorry for a character I met for 5 lines than someone who's been plastered over every second Magic merchandise article. This story accomplished more for me than the entirety of the Zendikar arc. Speaking of which, as I said during the Zendikar stories, this kind of story really was missing from Return to Zendikar: A broad overview of short snippets over what the entire world is going through. You can think of the gatewatch what you want, but the conflict of Zendikar was supposed to be planewide, but yet we only followed the same 4 offworld protagonists and 3 native supporting characters.

I am glad they have taken the conflict to where it belongs: To the people of Naktamun. The gatewatch really is just an excuse to visit this world after all.

Couldn't agree more. Amonkhet is the story of the people of Naktamun. The Gatewatch has no real stake here, to them it's just one more world. To the natives, this is everything they've ever believed perverted and turned against them, the end of the world in the most personal way possible. We needed to see it from their eyes.

Then again, I also like stories where everyone dies at the end so maybe that's just me.

Quote from Flisch »

I must admit I am somewhat baffled by the reactions to todays story. It served no purpose? Isn't the purpose of a story to entertain, to make you think and/or feel? I don't see why a story has to advance a plot, if it is otherwise interesting to read. What has reading Magic stories become to? Some sort of weird competition? We have to advance in plot as fast as possible? What?

Personally, this story was a highlight for me. I am not one to bash the gatewatch, because I can understand WotC's decision, but man is it strange to feel much more sorry for a character I met for 5 lines than someone who's been plastered over every second Magic merchandise article. This story accomplished more for me than the entirety of the Zendikar arc. Speaking of which, as I said during the Zendikar stories, this kind of story really was missing from Return to Zendikar: A broad overview of short snippets over what the entire world is going through. You can think of the gatewatch what you want, but the conflict of Zendikar was supposed to be planewide, but yet we only followed the same 4 offworld protagonists and 3 native supporting characters.

I am glad they have taken the conflict to where it belongs: To the people of Naktamun. The gatewatch really is just an excuse to visit this world after all.

Personally, I was happy to have a story about the people. And I'm perfectly fine with a story fleshing out the world versus focusing solely on plot advancement. I just didn't care for a story where everyone dies that was so dark and blunt about the fate of the people. I get the set isn't roses and sunshine, and that's fine. More people enjoy that being portrayed than I initially thought. To me though, and partially due to outside circumstances I'm dealing with on a personal level in my life as I grow older, I just prefer fantasy writing to be an escape from the brutal and violent. I would have been okay with some of the depictions of the horrors of the eternals' march, but when the story only included that and offered little in the way of hope, cultural insights (had a few, admittedly) or some sense that someone made it out, it just felt a hit hollow for me. It's not like the cards or other stories so far left any doubt to the fate of the world, so I personally was hoping for more insight as to how Hazoret and the survivors escape into the desert, less on the slaughter in the city.

And I get that for some, this story was enjoyable. For me and some others, though, we just wanted to explore the people of the world in their lives versus their deaths. Just my take.

I'd appreciate the stories more if they were not so abrupt. The characters weren't known to us, so it's harder to feel more about them, which is why I like the last two stories about Bolas/Oketra and likely Nissa, more than others.

And was that a praise from Bolas? High achievement for the girl, that.

I, for one, thought that this story really showcased that the everyday people of Naktamun were more than simply single-minded automata in a way that was sorely lacking in the stories from the first set of the block. It really did well to showcase the virtue and humanity of the inhabitants of a plane where everyone has spent their entire lives training their mind and body.

Then again, I've always been a sucker for heroic last stands anyway.

I wished that these characters were atleast mentioned randomlly in a story before the Hours.

Quote from Flisch »

I must admit I am somewhat baffled by the reactions to todays story. It served no purpose? Isn't the purpose of a story to entertain, to make you think and/or feel? I don't see why a story has to advance a plot, if it is otherwise interesting to read. What has reading Magic stories become to? Some sort of weird competition? We have to advance in plot as fast as possible? What?

Personally, this story was a highlight for me. I am not one to bash the gatewatch, because I can understand WotC's decision, but man is it strange to feel much more sorry for a character I met for 5 lines than someone who's been plastered over every second Magic merchandise article. This story accomplished more for me than the entirety of the Zendikar arc. Speaking of which, as I said during the Zendikar stories, this kind of story really was missing from Return to Zendikar: A broad overview of short snippets over what the entire world is going through. You can think of the gatewatch what you want, but the conflict of Zendikar was supposed to be planewide, but yet we only followed the same 4 offworld protagonists and 3 native supporting characters.

I am glad they have taken the conflict to where it belongs: To the people of Naktamun. The gatewatch really is just an excuse to visit this world after all.

I thoroughly agree with you! Personally I'm the type of person who watches an action flick and thinks about who the henchmen and minions who get slaughtered by the protagonists were. Too many times theyre just cannon fodder for a cool fight scene, but stories like this really make you realize that all the "unimportant" people are people too and they had lives as well.

It frankly irritates me that people are against today's story simply because "oh nothing big happened." Not every story needs to be some big, flashy, climactic fight scene with explosions and fireworks all over the place. Not every story even needs any sort of plot advancement, this story is a perfect example of beautiful worldbuilding that shows us the utter and total bleakness of the situation on Amonkhet. As others have said we can see that the plane is doomed and things are going terribly for the people on the plane from the cards and foreshadowing from previous stories, but this story gives an utterly different perspective that viscerally puts us in the middle of everything going to hell. The cards showed me that things weren't going to go well; today's story put me right in the middle of it all and made me feel like i was there with the characters struggling to find any chance at survival and ultimately failing.

In short: everything before today's story showed me things are bad on Amonkhet, today's story allowed me to live and feel it for myself, and that was beautiful (and tragic in the extreme)

She leaned close, whispering gently into his ear. "The child is . . . I will," she sobbed. "I will . . . save the child."

ohhhhhh sheeeeiiiit
man, this is some real stuff

Quote from Nicaetinismo »

Quote from Flisch »

I must admit I am somewhat baffled by the reactions to todays story. It served no purpose? Isn't the purpose of a story to entertain, to make you think and/or feel? I don't see why a story has to advance a plot, if it is otherwise interesting to read. What has reading Magic stories become to? Some sort of weird competition? We have to advance in plot as fast as possible? What?

Personally, this story was a highlight for me. I am not one to bash the gatewatch, because I can understand WotC's decision, but man is it strange to feel much more sorry for a character I met for 5 lines than someone who's been plastered over every second Magic merchandise article. This story accomplished more for me than the entirety of the Zendikar arc. Speaking of which, as I said during the Zendikar stories, this kind of story really was missing from Return to Zendikar: A broad overview of short snippets over what the entire world is going through. You can think of the gatewatch what you want, but the conflict of Zendikar was supposed to be planewide, but yet we only followed the same 4 offworld protagonists and 3 native supporting characters.

I am glad they have taken the conflict to where it belongs: To the people of Naktamun. The gatewatch really is just an excuse to visit this world after all.

I thoroughly agree with you! Personally I'm the type of person who watches an action flick and thinks about who the henchmen and minions who get slaughtered by the protagonists were. Too many times theyre just cannon fodder for a cool fight scene, but stories like this really make you realize that all the "unimportant" people are people too and they had lives as well.

It frankly irritates me that people are against today's story simply because "oh nothing big happened." Not every story needs to be some big, flashy, climactic fight scene with explosions and fireworks all over the place. Not every story even needs any sort of plot advancement, this story is a perfect example of beautiful worldbuilding that shows us the utter and total bleakness of the situation on Amonkhet. As others have said we can see that the plane is doomed and things are going terribly for the people on the plane from the cards and foreshadowing from previous stories, but this story gives an utterly different perspective that viscerally puts us in the middle of everything going to hell. The cards showed me that things weren't going to go well; today's story put me right in the middle of it all and made me feel like i was there with the characters struggling to find any chance at survival and ultimately failing.

In short: everything before today's story showed me things are bad on Amonkhet, today's story allowed me to live and feel it for myself, and that was beautiful (and tragic in the extreme)

I, too, enjoyed the deep dive into the suffering of the people. I was expecting/hoping for at least a quick glimpse at the main storyline at the end, but I have no complaints. This was good stuff.