(To preface, I looked back three pages in the forum to see if a title of a post implied the same question, but didn't see anything.)
Why is the Gatewatch called the Gatewatch? I recently did a keyword search for 'gate' in the story articles starting from the article where they first make the oaths, through to the end of the Zendikar timeline. They never call themselves 'the Gatewatch' outright before casually considering themselves members of the Gatewatch. The only other references are to Sea Gate, but why name a Multiverse-spanning operation based on Ravnica after a city on Zendikar? And even if that was the premise, they never say something along the lines of "We'll be the Gatewatch, in honor of Sea Gate." At least not that I saw. (Again, I'm basing this lack of exposition on keyword searches.)
I was just wondering about this when I asked my play group what gates in particular they're watching.
Follow up question relating to Kaladesh (based on the story released today, I don't think this is a spoiler, but SPOILER ALERT just in case):
Gatewatch was needed to beat Kozilek and Ulamog. Makes sense. Gatewatch was needed to beat Emrakul. Makes sense. Chandra goes to Kaladesh, Chandra and friends get into trouble, Tezzeret and Liliana interact, and now it becomes a Gatewatch problem?
After Innistrad, I thought the following blocks would go into specific storylines for each member, maybe, without bringing the whole group along. But it seems a relatively minor thing (to sum up the knowledge of the Gatewatch, Tezzeret should be dead and is crafty, and is on Kaladesh holding Chandra's mom captive) compared to the plane-threatening problems they vowed to stop. They can't know about prototype portal tech. They can't know Tezzeret's plans. So a personal problem (don't get me wrong, family is important) is enough to gather the entire Gatewatch?
My question isn't a shot at Chandra and her mom or that dynamic, which I get. My question is more of, what is too small an issue for the (planar threat protecting) Gatewatch to attend to? Will following blocks start off with one member of the Gatewatch on a plane with a problem (Jace, Chandra) followed by the entire Gatewatch eventually showing up?
Full disclosure: I really like Ajani (he and Jace were my first pw cards) and I think he'd be very interesting on Amonkhet, but I think having the Gatewatch *again* on Amonkhet would take away from the flavor and what I anticipate to be an interesting Ajani story.
Should the Gatewatch only be called in (by Creative/Wizards) for major planar issues, or do you folks think these 'minor' (relatively) issues are worth calling them in too? (Note that I'm fine with parts of the Gatewatch showing up; but doesn't need to be 4-5)
First, the Gatewatch isn't on Kaladesh for Chandra's mom. They are there because two of their members (Jace and Liliana), have history with Tezzeret and now being part of an organization bring them along to deal with the significant threat he poses, and he does pose a significant threat(not to the multiverse as the eldrazi but to the members of the Gatewatch themselves, mostly Jace and Liliana).
Ok, now that that's out of the way. The reason they are named the Gatewatch isn't that good from an outside perspective. Essentially they swore an oath to figuratively 'keep watch' on the multiverse, near the ruins of Seagate. So they named their organization the Gatewatch.
For better or for worse, the Gatewatch are our main characters. Plain and simple. I happen to love the idea of the Gatewatch, even though I don't particularly like any of the 5 current members. Personally, I find mono color characters to be quite boring, and I'm hoping the (presumptive) addition of Ajani, one of my favorite characters, to the Gatewatch, will add some interesting dynamics between them. Though I digress - MaRo and others have hinted that once the roster becomes large enough, not every problem will require the arrival of the entire cast, but members of the Gatewatch will most certainly be the focus of every block, for the foreseeable future. Note that while the entire Gatewatch is on Kaladesh, and was on Innistrad just prior, they do make it a point to focus on a few characters each time. Innistrad's focus was on Jace and Liliana, and Kaladesh's focus is on Chandra and Nissa. Do I look forward to the day when we won't see all (or even most) of the Gatewatch? Most definitely. But given that the next set is explicitly stated to deal with Nicol Bolas, I wouldn't expect that to be the set that happens in.
In truth, I expect the Gatewatch to "lose" during Amonkhet, and have a much more muted story with the following block, as they lick their wounds, as it were.
As for the rest, user_938036 is correct. The Gatewatch had no intention of coming to Kaladesh, even after Chandra (followed by Nissa and Liliana) ran off, but the presence of Tezzeret, a multi planar threat that most of the Gatewatch have history with, is what warrants their attention.
I'm pretty sure the "Gatewatch" name is sort of like "we will keep watch so what happens to Seagate never happens again" sort of thing.
As for having all 5 members on Kaladesh even though it's mostly just personal issues, it makes perfect sense. Chandra goes b/c it's her home, Lili went with her b/c it was her idea, and to take in the sights (and to manipulate her). Lili sees Tezz, so now it's personal for Lili and Jace as well b/c of their history with Tezz (Agents of Artifice, Test of Metal, maybe something else too, idk) so now Chandra, Lili, and Jace all have personal reasons to be there. and Gideon and Nissa are just the types of people who help their friends (very W and G of them tbh).
so that's why it makes perfect sense for all 5 members of the Gatewatch to be there for more or less "personal" reasons, even though there isn't any apparent planar threat.
I do agree in general that I hope there are some plotlines with less Gatewatch members in the future, but KLD makes sense to have them all, and so will Amonkhet, since it's Bolas.
If I had to guess, I'd assume "Gatewatch" was realistically a name who's rights where about to expire much like the rushed use of "Dragon's Maze." Hell, I think "The Consortium" was a better name for an interplanar group of planeswalkers. The name aside, I do like the Jacetus League in all their glory. I also agree that it's hard to get super invested in the Kaladesh crisis- . . . conflict- . . . Dilemma? There was an escalation creep in the last two blocks of a multiverse spanning menace. I suppose it's to be expected.
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Reach out and torch someone . . .
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Why is the Gatewatch called the Gatewatch? I recently did a keyword search for 'gate' in the story articles starting from the article where they first make the oaths, through to the end of the Zendikar timeline. They never call themselves 'the Gatewatch' outright before casually considering themselves members of the Gatewatch. The only other references are to Sea Gate, but why name a Multiverse-spanning operation based on Ravnica after a city on Zendikar? And even if that was the premise, they never say something along the lines of "We'll be the Gatewatch, in honor of Sea Gate." At least not that I saw. (Again, I'm basing this lack of exposition on keyword searches.)
I was just wondering about this when I asked my play group what gates in particular they're watching.
Follow up question relating to Kaladesh (based on the story released today, I don't think this is a spoiler, but SPOILER ALERT just in case):
Gatewatch was needed to beat Kozilek and Ulamog. Makes sense. Gatewatch was needed to beat Emrakul. Makes sense. Chandra goes to Kaladesh, Chandra and friends get into trouble, Tezzeret and Liliana interact, and now it becomes a Gatewatch problem?
After Innistrad, I thought the following blocks would go into specific storylines for each member, maybe, without bringing the whole group along. But it seems a relatively minor thing (to sum up the knowledge of the Gatewatch, Tezzeret should be dead and is crafty, and is on Kaladesh holding Chandra's mom captive) compared to the plane-threatening problems they vowed to stop. They can't know about prototype portal tech. They can't know Tezzeret's plans. So a personal problem (don't get me wrong, family is important) is enough to gather the entire Gatewatch?
My question isn't a shot at Chandra and her mom or that dynamic, which I get. My question is more of, what is too small an issue for the (planar threat protecting) Gatewatch to attend to? Will following blocks start off with one member of the Gatewatch on a plane with a problem (Jace, Chandra) followed by the entire Gatewatch eventually showing up?
Full disclosure: I really like Ajani (he and Jace were my first pw cards) and I think he'd be very interesting on Amonkhet, but I think having the Gatewatch *again* on Amonkhet would take away from the flavor and what I anticipate to be an interesting Ajani story.
Should the Gatewatch only be called in (by Creative/Wizards) for major planar issues, or do you folks think these 'minor' (relatively) issues are worth calling them in too? (Note that I'm fine with parts of the Gatewatch showing up; but doesn't need to be 4-5)
Ok, now that that's out of the way. The reason they are named the Gatewatch isn't that good from an outside perspective. Essentially they swore an oath to figuratively 'keep watch' on the multiverse, near the ruins of Seagate. So they named their organization the Gatewatch.
In truth, I expect the Gatewatch to "lose" during Amonkhet, and have a much more muted story with the following block, as they lick their wounds, as it were.
As for the rest, user_938036 is correct. The Gatewatch had no intention of coming to Kaladesh, even after Chandra (followed by Nissa and Liliana) ran off, but the presence of Tezzeret, a multi planar threat that most of the Gatewatch have history with, is what warrants their attention.
As for having all 5 members on Kaladesh even though it's mostly just personal issues, it makes perfect sense. Chandra goes b/c it's her home, Lili went with her b/c it was her idea, and to take in the sights (and to manipulate her). Lili sees Tezz, so now it's personal for Lili and Jace as well b/c of their history with Tezz (Agents of Artifice, Test of Metal, maybe something else too, idk) so now Chandra, Lili, and Jace all have personal reasons to be there. and Gideon and Nissa are just the types of people who help their friends (very W and G of them tbh).
so that's why it makes perfect sense for all 5 members of the Gatewatch to be there for more or less "personal" reasons, even though there isn't any apparent planar threat.
I do agree in general that I hope there are some plotlines with less Gatewatch members in the future, but KLD makes sense to have them all, and so will Amonkhet, since it's Bolas.
Reach out and torch someone . . .