Okay, so something has been bugging me for awhile now. I came in during Dark Ascension. I like to feel as though Ive gone back and learned a fair bit about the lore, but admittedly some things escape me, particularly the lore of the Phyrexians. I understand that the glistening oil corrupts one completely: Yawgmoth's will infused into the oil leads those it corrupts to seek only perfection, Compleation and the spread of Phyrexia's glory, which can manifest itself in different ways based on mana-alignment. I think I'm good there.
Here's the rub though: when one becomes corrupted, how much identity and free will remains for them? This is where I'm unsure myself, and further unsure if the lore has even addressed this. I remember reading somewhere that after Crovax died after he was compleated, Selenia and his souls were released, restoring Crovax to his somewhat original state in his spiritual form before departing for the Dominarian afterlife. But does that only happen in death, or is Crovax just a special case?
For example, we received this background on Atraxa this week:
"Atraxa marks the final victory in the Phyrexian conquest of Mirrodin. Once a Mirran angel who opposed Phyrexia's corruption, she was captured while single-handedly protecting a Mirran retreat. The praetor Elesh Norn honored the angel's tenacity with the blessed gift of Phyrexian compleation, inviting other praetors to contribute. Urabrask declined, but Jin-Gitaxias, Sheoldred, and Vorinclex all agreed to join Elesh Norn's efforts, and Atraxa was born—an awe-inspiring testament to Phyrexia's singular purpose."
Is anything of the angel still left within Atraxa, or is she solely a devotee of Phyrexian ideals? The question also makes me wonder for Ezuri, Glissa and others. Could there ever be or has there been precedent for a reverse-Compleation?
If I'm completely wrong and Compleation is the end of it, my apologies for the ignorance. But as a guy who finds fascinating the spiritual aspects of the game and story, it just bugs me to not have an answer as to whether those characters died when compleated or if there is some glimmer of their old selves left within.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Vorthos-player with way too much time on his hands and a love of thematic decks.
EDH - Yes, Each One is Named After a Song. I love tying music to my decks.
Long answer: remember that the new phyrexian type of compleation often involves taking things apart and rebuilding them, so memories and personality are yet another object that can be selectively clipped or inserted.
As GuguWars said, the White and Blue factions are probably the biggest on this. Makes sense; Black is individuality, and White and Blue are diammetrically opposed to Red, the least phyrexian of all colours.
Notably, Glissa supposedly lost her memories, but it's unclear if it was due to phyresis or her own set of circumstances.
Your question made me finally decide it was time to sign up.
As a more... oldschool Vorthos (I practically never play the game, but love the art and story and collect the cards for its own sake), I think the answer to this question lies in the older novels, because they contain a lot of information about what it means to be a Phyrexian and what compleation is. Three characters spring to mind: Gix, Mishra and Xantcha.
So, chronologically speaking, the first time we see Gix is in The Thrawn. Here, he initially appears as a murderer and a rebel against the Thrawn empire, and his personality is established to be cruel, violent, and vicious. Even Yawgmoth seems to hold some contempt for him, but still conspires with Gix and essentially makes him his right hand man in the plot. During this time, Yawgmoth takes his time perfecting the compleation process, which he initially bills to the Thrawn as a surgical process for curing the wasting syndrome Pthisis, which Gix and his rebels suffer from. Incidentally, I should note that Yawmoth identifies powerstones as the cause of Pthisis, but Urza never observes powerstones to do this, and later discovers that Phyrexian Oil actually contains microscopic powerstones suspended in otherwise mundane oil. Anyway, that insight into Yawmoth's twisted mind out of the way, Gix is one of the first people Yawgmoth compleats and "improves" (as in, by the end of the story Gix is already starting to appear demonic).
The next time we see Gix chronologically is in The Brother's War. Interestingly, since this book was written first, Gix appears rather different. In fact, when he first comes through the portal he doesn't even have a name-- he adopts the name "Gix" for convenience sake (Gix is the name of an old Dominarian god, apparently). Gix proves to be an able manipulator, turning Mishra into more and more of a villain and behind closed doors Gix and his followers manage to compleat Mishra. Now, here's where Mishra becomes important: Mishra's personality and identity doesn't change as a result of being compleated, Gix is preying on Mishra's preexisting hatred for Urza and his trust in the advisors Gix has placed in his court. No one even knows that Mishra is a Phyrexian until the end of the novel when Urza casts his first spell and reveals Mishra's metal endoskeleton. So compleation does not, in itself, brainwash people! At least, not during the reign of Old Phyrexia. That, as we see in the next novel, is a separate process.
So, that brings us to Gix's next and final appearance in Magic's chronology: the novel Planeswalker. Now, if it weren't for authorial intent you could be forgiven for thinking that Gix in The Brother's War was a separate entity from Gix in The Thrawn, but this novel makes it clear that the Preator and the man are the same being. How then did he lose his memory of his name and human identity? Well, that's where Xantcha comes in. Throughout the book, it becomes very clear that the way Old Phyrexia brainwashed people, including their own newts, was through cultish behavioral modification techniques. Up until she meets Urza and escapes, Xantcha is constantly being bombarded with abuse and propoganda by Gix and other high ranking Phyrexians that is designed to break one's will, and destroy your sense of self and identity. Its not that they go into your brain and re-code you like a computer (at least, not unless they are repurposing an artifact creature), its that they take your identity and mold it to serve their society. Your personality actually remains intact, as we see with Gix and others: he still behaves like the murderous human he once was, its just that over the thousands of years of being a Phyrexian his identity became completely consumed by Yawgmoth's will, and his old name became a distant memory from literally thousands of years past. The same happens with others who becomes compleated; indeed, they don't even appear to grant that "reward" until the person has earned it by submitting to them. The reason Xantcha never gets compleated is that she had an unbreakable will, and in the end Gix decided that it was better to simply execute her (on another plane, no less!) than keep trying. If they could have simply re-written her brain, he would have done so.
And that explains why characters like Volrath, Crovax, Ertai (who kept elements of his humanity like the ability to have romantic feelings, for instance) and others from the old sagas retained so much of their identities and personality after joining up with the Phyrexians. Becoming compleated doesn't remove your free will or change your original personality, you become a phyrexian after your will has already been broken, and the only personality change that occurs after Compleation is your change in loyalty and beliefs. The same likely applies to some (though perhaps not all) of the Mirrians that have been compleated by New Phyrexia: the Phyrexians didn't just abduct Ezuri because he was a Mirrian leader, for instance, they chose him because his power hungry personality already fit with the Phyrexian mindset and made him a prime candidate for compleation to begin with. Now, it is possible that because New Phyrexia is more open minded to using the full color spectrum that they can access true blue/white mind control magic, but they also had access to the full color spectrum on Rath and were picky about who they compleated there too. Their conquest isn't as simple as spreading oil like the Zerg spread creep in Starcraft, they do still fight and kill anyone who gets in their way. Those who are the most violently resistant to Phyrexia are the ones most likely to resist compleation as well. That's likely what makes them feel that Atraxa is their final victory-- she isn't just a magnum opus on the compleation process, but symbolic that they can break the will of even the most powerful and resistant Mirrian fighters.
At least, that is how I read it. There is an unfortunate dearth of information on New Phyrexia, and obviously the writers intend to make them different from Old Phyrexia in as many ways as they can. So there is no way of knowing how similar their compleation and brainwashing methods are to the days of Yagmoth. There probably is a ton of narrative convenience going on, especially since they only created Atraxa because they needed to justify their new four color commanders somehow.
Your question made me finally decide it was time to sign up.
As a more... oldschool Vorthos (I practically never play the game, but love the art and story and collect the cards for its own sake), I think the answer to this question lies in the older novels, because they contain a lot of information about what it means to be a Phyrexian and what compleation is. Three characters spring to mind: Gix, Mishra and Xantcha.
So, chronologically speaking, the first time we see Gix is in The Thrawn. Here, he initially appears as a murderer and a rebel against the Thrawn empire, and his personality is established to be cruel, violent, and vicious. Even Yawgmoth seems to hold some contempt for him, but still conspires with Gix and essentially makes him his right hand man in the plot. During this time, Yawgmoth takes his time perfecting the compleation process, which he initially bills to the Thrawn as a surgical process for curing the wasting syndrome Pthisis, which Gix and his rebels suffer from. Incidentally, I should note that Yawmoth identifies powerstones as the cause of Pthisis, but Urza never observes powerstones to do this, and later discovers that Phyrexian Oil actually contains microscopic powerstones suspended in otherwise mundane oil. Anyway, that insight into Yawmoth's twisted mind out of the way, Gix is one of the first people Yawgmoth compleats and "improves" (as in, by the end of the story Gix is already starting to appear demonic).
The next time we see Gix chronologically is in The Brother's War. Interestingly, since this book was written first, Gix appears rather different. In fact, when he first comes through the portal he doesn't even have a name-- he adopts the name "Gix" for convenience sake (Gix is the name of an old Dominarian god, apparently). Gix proves to be an able manipulator, turning Mishra into more and more of a villain and behind closed doors Gix and his followers manage to compleat Mishra. Now, here's where Mishra becomes important: Mishra's personality and identity doesn't change as a result of being compleated, Gix is preying on Mishra's preexisting hatred for Urza and his trust in the advisors Gix has placed in his court. No one even knows that Mishra is a Phyrexian until the end of the novel when Urza casts his first spell and reveals Mishra's metal endoskeleton. So compleation does not, in itself, brainwash people! At least, not during the reign of Old Phyrexia. That, as we see in the next novel, is a separate process.
So, that brings us to Gix's next and final appearance in Magic's chronology: the novel Planeswalker. Now, if it weren't for authorial intent you could be forgiven for thinking that Gix in The Brother's War was a separate entity from Gix in The Thrawn, but this novel makes it clear that the Preator and the man are the same being. How then did he lose his memory of his name and human identity? Well, that's where Xantcha comes in. Throughout the book, it becomes very clear that the way Old Phyrexia brainwashed people, including their own newts, was through cultish behavioral modification techniques. Up until she meets Urza and escapes, Xantcha is constantly being bombarded with abuse and propoganda by Gix and other high ranking Phyrexians that is designed to break one's will, and destroy your sense of self and identity. Its not that they go into your brain and re-code you like a computer (at least, not unless they are repurposing an artifact creature), its that they take your identity and mold it to serve their society. Your personality actually remains intact, as we see with Gix and others: he still behaves like the murderous human he once was, its just that over the thousands of years of being a Phyrexian his identity became completely consumed by Yawgmoth's will, and his old name became a distant memory from literally thousands of years past. The same happens with others who becomes compleated; indeed, they don't even appear to grant that "reward" until the person has earned it by submitting to them. The reason Xantcha never gets compleated is that she had an unbreakable will, and in the end Gix decided that it was better to simply execute her (on another plane, no less!) than keep trying. If they could have simply re-written her brain, he would have done so.
And that explains why characters like Volrath, Crovax, Ertai (who kept elements of his humanity like the ability to have romantic feelings, for instance) and others from the old sagas retained so much of their identities and personality after joining up with the Phyrexians. Becoming compleated doesn't remove your free will or change your original personality, you become a phyrexian after your will has already been broken, and the only personality change that occurs after Compleation is your change in loyalty and beliefs. The same likely applies to some (though perhaps not all) of the Mirrians that have been compleated by New Phyrexia: the Phyrexians didn't just abduct Ezuri because he was a Mirrian leader, for instance, they chose him because his power hungry personality already fit with the Phyrexian mindset and made him a prime candidate for compleation to begin with. Now, it is possible that because New Phyrexia is more open minded to using the full color spectrum that they can access true blue/white mind control magic, but they also had access to the full color spectrum on Rath and were picky about who they compleated there too. Their conquest isn't as simple as spreading oil like the Zerg spread creep in Starcraft, they do still fight and kill anyone who gets in their way. Those who are the most violently resistant to Phyrexia are the ones most likely to resist compleation as well. That's likely what makes them feel that Atraxa is their final victory-- she isn't just a magnum opus on the compleation process, but symbolic that they can break the will of even the most powerful and resistant Mirrian fighters.
At least, that is how I read it. There is an unfortunate dearth of information on New Phyrexia, and obviously the writers intend to make them different from Old Phyrexia in as many ways as they can. So there is no way of knowing how similar their compleation and brainwashing methods are to the days of Yagmoth. There probably is a ton of narrative convenience going on, especially since they only created Atraxa because they needed to justify their new four color commanders somehow.
Wow, that information and insight is greatly appreciated, sir or ma'am. Thank you, and I'm not sure if drawing you onto he forums is something that you wanted or not, but allow me to say welcome and thank you for joining the conversation. It's rally fascinating to me the old Phyrexian compleation process s you explained, and now I'm more curious than ever to know what has become of the world of New Phyrexia. The Phyrexians fascinate me so much due to their cult-like delusions and methods, whereas Bolas is just the straight-villain, Ob Nixilis is just evil and the Eldrazi were "unfathomable." I'd be curious to see if any of the compleated Mirrans could or would fill either the Mishra or Gix role.
Again, thank you for joining and sharing.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Vorthos-player with way too much time on his hands and a love of thematic decks.
EDH - Yes, Each One is Named After a Song. I love tying music to my decks.
Its "sir." I've used this moniker on enough websites by now that my gender is no secret Anyway, I've lurked the story subforum for long enough now to realize that I do have some knowledge that others don't, so your question was merely the first to grab me enough to comment.
As for the Mishra and Gix roles, it should be noted that they were defined by old Phyrexia and the story arc of Urza's Saga. Mishra was Urza's brother, so that obviously is off the table-- other people in the story betrayed Dominaria to Phyrexia so that is not what makes his character special. Gix was a preator just like Elish Norn or Gin Gitaxis, but unlike the New Phyrexian preators Gix had a boss. Gix could fulfill the role of right hand man to Yawgmoth because there was a Father Of Machines he was answerable to. The five preators of New Phyrexia don't have a Father of Machines and are divided on what Phyrexia should be in the absence of Yawgmoth. Its also worth noting that in each book Gix serves a different narrative function: in The Thrawn he is representative of the corrupt undercurrents of Thrawn civilization, literally being imprisoned in a cave system underneath the city so that the social elite can ignore the problem. In The Brothers War he serves as a representative of Phyrexia as a whole and as an agent of corruption; he couldn't take the Mightstone and Weakstone directly, so he manipulates Mishra instead to prolong the war and get a foothold into Dominaria (which Urza sabotages at the end of the book). And in Planeswalker, he serves as the personal nemesis to Xantcha, who really doesn't have an equivalent in the current story. Xantcha was Phyrexian by birth-- indeed, she was grown in a vat, not even born-- so her rebellion against her masters is something quite different from the Mirrians or even Urabrask, whose vision for Phyrexia is less... tyrannical and a bit more like how Rath was ruled by the Evincars, but is nonetheless an ideal for Phyrexia all the same. Xantcha was thoroughly individualistic, using Phyrexian concepts to help survive but rejecting their core belief that All Shall Be One. Every part of her character is that way, from the simple things like having a name and chosen gender (newts are sexless) to more obvious things like allying with and befriending Phyrexia's greatest foe, Urza. When I think of a well written Black hero from this franchise, I always think of Xantcha first and foremost. Thing is, to the extent that she can be part of the current story she continues to exist as Karn (her heartstone being the key to his sentience), so its doubtful that they will retread that ground unless they give us a Xantcha card in a Commander set.
Truly impressive text, and defenitely shines a beacon on works I haven't read in a long time.
That said, New Phyrexia is explicitly caused by the oil corrupting the mind with visions of Old Phyrexia. I suppose it could simply drive most people mad and surrender to Phyrexia, like the abuse in Old Phyrexia, but it an least a few cases it seems to genuinely change perspective.
For now, I'm willing to assume the Machine Orthodoxy has access to true brainwashing, since they seem keen to forcibly convert from the non-White mirran factions.
That said, New Phyrexia is explicitly caused by the oil corrupting the mind with visions of Old Phyrexia. I suppose it could simply drive most people mad and surrender to Phyrexia, like the abuse in Old Phyrexia, but it an least a few cases it seems to genuinely change perspective.
That is what is stated, but it is genuinely confusing if not an outright plot-hole, depending on how you read previous works. The oil supposedly came from Xantcha's heartstone, and assuming that its the same kind of oil as before why did it suddenly get mind altering properties? Parts of Dominaria such as Urborg are covered in Phyrexian oil, yet nothing sinister has been indicated as happening there. Its just a dirty, greasy stain on the landscape. Of course, there was lore from before of people seeing visions of Phyrexia, particularly in dreams, and Mishra was driven to enter Phyrexia to obtain Dragon Engines because of dreams he had of Phyrexia. So maybe the oil is a red herring-- or alternatively, a clarification. Who knows.
My best guesses are that either its a special version of the oil meant to be in heartstones only (since those were essentially the receptacle of a Phyrexian newt's soul it could be that the visions of old phyrexia are in fact Xantcha's memories!), or that Phyrexian oil effects Mirrians differently for whatever reason (a mutation in the oil, say, or perhaps it effects artifact creates like this and most Mirrians come close enough except for Melira. One wonders what would happen if Esper was exposed to Phyrexian oil). Or hey, maybe its a symptom of Phthisis. The oil does contain powerstones, after all...
But yeah, I doubt the story department at WOTC cares enough to clarify the canon regarding New Phyrexia.
That said, New Phyrexia is explicitly caused by the oil corrupting the mind with visions of Old Phyrexia. I suppose it could simply drive most people mad and surrender to Phyrexia, like the abuse in Old Phyrexia, but it an least a few cases it seems to genuinely change perspective.
That is what is stated, but it is genuinely confusing if not an outright plot-hole, depending on how you read previous works. The oil supposedly came from Xantcha's heartstone, and assuming that its the same kind of oil as before why did it suddenly get mind altering properties?
Retcon stick.
Parts of Dominaria such as Urborg are covered in Phyrexian oil, yet nothing sinister has been indicated as happening there.
Certain planes get corrupted faster. Mirrodin fell because of the already metal-ness of the plane, (which is why Kaladesh and Alara-Esper would be the worst places for the oil) while more organic based planes would take a longer time. Only other plane so far we that has been taken over besides Mirrodin was Elspeth home world.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
That said, New Phyrexia is explicitly caused by the oil corrupting the mind with visions of Old Phyrexia. I suppose it could simply drive most people mad and surrender to Phyrexia, like the abuse in Old Phyrexia, but it an least a few cases it seems to genuinely change perspective.
That is what is stated, but it is genuinely confusing if not an outright plot-hole, depending on how you read previous works. The oil supposedly came from Xantcha's heartstone, and assuming that its the same kind of oil as before why did it suddenly get mind altering properties? Parts of Dominaria such as Urborg are covered in Phyrexian oil, yet nothing sinister has been indicated as happening there. Its just a dirty, greasy stain on the landscape. Of course, there was lore from before of people seeing visions of Phyrexia, particularly in dreams, and Mishra was driven to enter Phyrexia to obtain Dragon Engines because of dreams he had of Phyrexia. So maybe the oil is a red herring-- or alternatively, a clarification. Who knows.
My best guesses are that either its a special version of the oil meant to be in heartstones only (since those were essentially the receptacle of a Phyrexian newt's soul it could be that the visions of old phyrexia are in fact Xantcha's memories!), or that Phyrexian oil effects Mirrians differently for whatever reason (a mutation in the oil, say, or perhaps it effects artifact creates like this and most Mirrians come close enough except for Melira. One wonders what would happen if Esper was exposed to Phyrexian oil). Or hey, maybe its a symptom of Phthisis. The oil does contain powerstones, after all...
But yeah, I doubt the story department at WOTC cares enough to clarify the canon regarding New Phyrexia.
It could be a retcon, but an article by Doug stated that the oil was altered by the five suns (which is also why Phyrexia is multicoloured now), which could explain why it managed to infect Mirrodin. It certainly is capable of taking many forms, like the mycosynth (stated to be a derivative of the oil), so there is some canon basis.
Ah, okay. I don't know which article that was or where to find it (mind helping me out on that, BTW? ), but I suspected that if a canon answer existed it would be "mutation." Phyrexian oil simply never did this prior to New Phyrexia, so an outright retcon would never be adequate to explain the change in-universe.
All of the oil in this new canon has this property, Karn is currently off trying to clean up the worlds he gone to that are still able to be cleansed. Argent Mutation.
Your sun theory also doesn't explain Elsepths home plane which we know has been completed or at lest has a grip on her world.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
You are making a lot of assumptions. First of all, the timeline didn't change until Tarkir, so the canon at the time of Scar's of Mirrodin's release was supposed to be an extension of the old Weatherlight/Urza era stories. We don't know enough about Elspeth's home plane to say whether it was attacked by New Phyrexia or remnants of the Old Phyrexians. Its not as if Old Phyrexia didn't invade and Compleat planes, they just used different means than New Phyrexia as already established. Also, Karn not only traveled when he still had Urza's spark, Memnarch locked him out of Argentum during the first Mirrodin storyline. Its even said that the denizens of the Mephidross may have encountered New Phyrexia during Memnarch's reign. So it actually would be a consistent timeline for the Suns to have mutated the oil in Xantcha's heartstone before Karn unintentionally infected other world's like Elspeth's, and even explain why he wasn't a biohazard during the Weatherlight Saga. Perhaps I didn't give them enough credit before. This is starting to make sense to me.
You are making a lot of assumptions. First of all, the timeline didn't change until Tarkir, so the canon at the time of Scar's of Mirrodin's release was supposed to be an extension of the old Weatherlight/Urza era stories.
I didn't mean the canon as of Tarkir (which only changed the "canon" of Tarkir really), I meant as the many, many changes they had in the between the Mirrodin blocks storylines, as well the confusing and fuzziness of the canon between the official wizards story info and the Quest for Karn Novel.
Also IIRC Brady Dommermuth was the one who giving us info since (he was the head of creative at the time) and most of his answers are lost to the inter-webs, but I believe the context was the reason Phyrexica was now in five color was because of the suns, but it doesn't mention if this is what gave the oil the power to mutate. As I have read it, Wizards seems to act as if this was always a "fail safe" in the oil.
We don't know enough about Elspeth's home plane to say whether it was attacked by New Phyrexia or remnants of the Old Phyrexians. Its not as if Old Phyrexia didn't invade and Compleat planes, they just used different means than New Phyrexia as already established.
True, I forgot we don't know if Elspeth home plane was attacked by branch of old phyrexia or has its own batch of oil growing.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
All of the oil in this new canon has this property, Karn is currently off trying to clean up the worlds he gone to that are still able to be cleansed. Argent Mutation.
Your sun theory also doesn't explain Elsepths home plane which we know has been completed or at lest has a grip on her world.
For all we know Elspeth's homeworld was an oldrexian holdout.
I didn't mean the canon as of Tarkir (which only changed the "canon" of Tarkir really), I meant as the many, many changes they had in the between the Mirrodin blocks storylines, as well the confusing and fuzziness of the canon between the official wizards story info and the Quest for Karn Novel.
Fair enough; I thought you were referencing that because, despite the in-story claims that only Tarkir's history was changed, the Gatewatch characters appear to have had their stories subtly altered anyway and most people seem to chalk this up to the Tarkir story arc.
I never read Quest for Karn, and from everything I've heard about it, I don't think I missed anything relevant or fun.
Also IIRC Brady Dommermuth was the one who giving us info since (he was the head of creative at the time) and most of his answers are lost to the inter-webs, but I believe the context was the reason Phyrexica was now in five color was because of the suns, but it doesn't mention if this is what gave the oil the power to mutate. As I have read it, Wizards seems to act as if this was always a "fail safe" in the oil.
Oh, that's a shame. That would bring us back to square one, then.
Your question made me finally decide it was time to sign up.
As a more... oldschool Vorthos (I practically never play the game, but love the art and story and collect the cards for its own sake), I think the answer to this question lies in the older novels, because they contain a lot of information about what it means to be a Phyrexian and what compleation is. Three characters spring to mind: Gix, Mishra and Xantcha.
So, chronologically speaking, the first time we see Gix is in The Thrawn. Here, he initially appears as a murderer and a rebel against the Thrawn empire, and his personality is established to be cruel, violent, and vicious. Even Yawgmoth seems to hold some contempt for him, but still conspires with Gix and essentially makes him his right hand man in the plot. During this time, Yawgmoth takes his time perfecting the compleation process, which he initially bills to the Thrawn as a surgical process for curing the wasting syndrome Pthisis, which Gix and his rebels suffer from. Incidentally, I should note that Yawmoth identifies powerstones as the cause of Pthisis, but Urza never observes powerstones to do this, and later discovers that Phyrexian Oil actually contains microscopic powerstones suspended in otherwise mundane oil. Anyway, that insight into Yawmoth's twisted mind out of the way, Gix is one of the first people Yawgmoth compleats and "improves" (as in, by the end of the story Gix is already starting to appear demonic).
The next time we see Gix chronologically is in The Brother's War. Interestingly, since this book was written first, Gix appears rather different. In fact, when he first comes through the portal he doesn't even have a name-- he adopts the name "Gix" for convenience sake (Gix is the name of an old Dominarian god, apparently). Gix proves to be an able manipulator, turning Mishra into more and more of a villain and behind closed doors Gix and his followers manage to compleat Mishra. Now, here's where Mishra becomes important: Mishra's personality and identity doesn't change as a result of being compleated, Gix is preying on Mishra's preexisting hatred for Urza and his trust in the advisors Gix has placed in his court. No one even knows that Mishra is a Phyrexian until the end of the novel when Urza casts his first spell and reveals Mishra's metal endoskeleton. So compleation does not, in itself, brainwash people! At least, not during the reign of Old Phyrexia. That, as we see in the next novel, is a separate process.
So, that brings us to Gix's next and final appearance in Magic's chronology: the novel Planeswalker. Now, if it weren't for authorial intent you could be forgiven for thinking that Gix in The Brother's War was a separate entity from Gix in The Thrawn, but this novel makes it clear that the Preator and the man are the same being. How then did he lose his memory of his name and human identity? Well, that's where Xantcha comes in. Throughout the book, it becomes very clear that the way Old Phyrexia brainwashed people, including their own newts, was through cultish behavioral modification techniques. Up until she meets Urza and escapes, Xantcha is constantly being bombarded with abuse and propoganda by Gix and other high ranking Phyrexians that is designed to break one's will, and destroy your sense of self and identity. Its not that they go into your brain and re-code you like a computer (at least, not unless they are repurposing an artifact creature), its that they take your identity and mold it to serve their society. Your personality actually remains intact, as we see with Gix and others: he still behaves like the murderous human he once was, its just that over the thousands of years of being a Phyrexian his identity became completely consumed by Yawgmoth's will, and his old name became a distant memory from literally thousands of years past. The same happens with others who becomes compleated; indeed, they don't even appear to grant that "reward" until the person has earned it by submitting to them. The reason Xantcha never gets compleated is that she had an unbreakable will, and in the end Gix decided that it was better to simply execute her (on another plane, no less!) than keep trying. If they could have simply re-written her brain, he would have done so.
And that explains why characters like Volrath, Crovax, Ertai (who kept elements of his humanity like the ability to have romantic feelings, for instance) and others from the old sagas retained so much of their identities and personality after joining up with the Phyrexians. Becoming compleated doesn't remove your free will or change your original personality, you become a phyrexian after your will has already been broken, and the only personality change that occurs after Compleation is your change in loyalty and beliefs. The same likely applies to some (though perhaps not all) of the Mirrians that have been compleated by New Phyrexia: the Phyrexians didn't just abduct Ezuri because he was a Mirrian leader, for instance, they chose him because his power hungry personality already fit with the Phyrexian mindset and made him a prime candidate for compleation to begin with. Now, it is possible that because New Phyrexia is more open minded to using the full color spectrum that they can access true blue/white mind control magic, but they also had access to the full color spectrum on Rath and were picky about who they compleated there too. Their conquest isn't as simple as spreading oil like the Zerg spread creep in Starcraft, they do still fight and kill anyone who gets in their way. Those who are the most violently resistant to Phyrexia are the ones most likely to resist compleation as well. That's likely what makes them feel that Atraxa is their final victory-- she isn't just a magnum opus on the compleation process, but symbolic that they can break the will of even the most powerful and resistant Mirrian fighters.
At least, that is how I read it. There is an unfortunate dearth of information on New Phyrexia, and obviously the writers intend to make them different from Old Phyrexia in as many ways as they can. So there is no way of knowing how similar their compleation and brainwashing methods are to the days of Yagmoth. There probably is a ton of narrative convenience going on, especially since they only created Atraxa because they needed to justify their new four color commanders somehow.
I'm curious, what are you thoughts about Belbe in this regard?
I'm curious, what are you thoughts about Belbe in this regard?
I actually haven't read Nemesis, but I do know a lot about it. I was warned that the books taking place between Urza's Destiny and Invasion were kinda boring and unnecessary (and also, my experience with the Weatherlight anthology suggested that these reports were probably right), so I never got around to spending money to read them. Nemesis I'm told was the best of the three, so I do know a bit about it, however.
Belbe was undead, and we know that the Phyrexians are hard Materialists that don't believe in the soul. This makes her a special case: they simply took her brain and implanted a bunch of instructions and new knowledge so that she would implement Yawmoth's will in the same exact manner that an artifact creature would. Her initial behavior upon being sent to Rath was robotic, whereas most other Compleated beings tend to be driven by whatever passions drove them towards Phyrexia in the first place. The fact that she began developing a new personality, romantic feelings, and rebellious thoughts were unknowable outcomes to Yawgmoth. Moreover, keep in mind that she had no memories of her past life as well. So again, its a special case.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Here's the rub though: when one becomes corrupted, how much identity and free will remains for them? This is where I'm unsure myself, and further unsure if the lore has even addressed this. I remember reading somewhere that after Crovax died after he was compleated, Selenia and his souls were released, restoring Crovax to his somewhat original state in his spiritual form before departing for the Dominarian afterlife. But does that only happen in death, or is Crovax just a special case?
For example, we received this background on Atraxa this week:
"Atraxa marks the final victory in the Phyrexian conquest of Mirrodin. Once a Mirran angel who opposed Phyrexia's corruption, she was captured while single-handedly protecting a Mirran retreat. The praetor Elesh Norn honored the angel's tenacity with the blessed gift of Phyrexian compleation, inviting other praetors to contribute. Urabrask declined, but Jin-Gitaxias, Sheoldred, and Vorinclex all agreed to join Elesh Norn's efforts, and Atraxa was born—an awe-inspiring testament to Phyrexia's singular purpose."
Is anything of the angel still left within Atraxa, or is she solely a devotee of Phyrexian ideals? The question also makes me wonder for Ezuri, Glissa and others. Could there ever be or has there been precedent for a reverse-Compleation?
If I'm completely wrong and Compleation is the end of it, my apologies for the ignorance. But as a guy who finds fascinating the spiritual aspects of the game and story, it just bugs me to not have an answer as to whether those characters died when compleated or if there is some glimmer of their old selves left within.
EDH - Yes, Each One is Named After a Song. I love tying music to my decks.
B Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief B - Fear of the Dark
WG Sigarda, Heron's Grace WG - Strength in Numbers
RG Xenagos, God of Revels RG - Fullmoon (It's werewolves)
RW Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier RW - The End is Nigh
60 Card Kitchen Table Decks
WUB Avacyn, Spirit Ferrier
RG Arlinn Kord's Howlpack
Long answer: remember that the new phyrexian type of compleation often involves taking things apart and rebuilding them, so memories and personality are yet another object that can be selectively clipped or inserted.
As GuguWars said, the White and Blue factions are probably the biggest on this. Makes sense; Black is individuality, and White and Blue are diammetrically opposed to Red, the least phyrexian of all colours.
Notably, Glissa supposedly lost her memories, but it's unclear if it was due to phyresis or her own set of circumstances.
As a more... oldschool Vorthos (I practically never play the game, but love the art and story and collect the cards for its own sake), I think the answer to this question lies in the older novels, because they contain a lot of information about what it means to be a Phyrexian and what compleation is. Three characters spring to mind: Gix, Mishra and Xantcha.
So, chronologically speaking, the first time we see Gix is in The Thrawn. Here, he initially appears as a murderer and a rebel against the Thrawn empire, and his personality is established to be cruel, violent, and vicious. Even Yawgmoth seems to hold some contempt for him, but still conspires with Gix and essentially makes him his right hand man in the plot. During this time, Yawgmoth takes his time perfecting the compleation process, which he initially bills to the Thrawn as a surgical process for curing the wasting syndrome Pthisis, which Gix and his rebels suffer from. Incidentally, I should note that Yawmoth identifies powerstones as the cause of Pthisis, but Urza never observes powerstones to do this, and later discovers that Phyrexian Oil actually contains microscopic powerstones suspended in otherwise mundane oil. Anyway, that insight into Yawmoth's twisted mind out of the way, Gix is one of the first people Yawgmoth compleats and "improves" (as in, by the end of the story Gix is already starting to appear demonic).
The next time we see Gix chronologically is in The Brother's War. Interestingly, since this book was written first, Gix appears rather different. In fact, when he first comes through the portal he doesn't even have a name-- he adopts the name "Gix" for convenience sake (Gix is the name of an old Dominarian god, apparently). Gix proves to be an able manipulator, turning Mishra into more and more of a villain and behind closed doors Gix and his followers manage to compleat Mishra. Now, here's where Mishra becomes important: Mishra's personality and identity doesn't change as a result of being compleated, Gix is preying on Mishra's preexisting hatred for Urza and his trust in the advisors Gix has placed in his court. No one even knows that Mishra is a Phyrexian until the end of the novel when Urza casts his first spell and reveals Mishra's metal endoskeleton. So compleation does not, in itself, brainwash people! At least, not during the reign of Old Phyrexia. That, as we see in the next novel, is a separate process.
So, that brings us to Gix's next and final appearance in Magic's chronology: the novel Planeswalker. Now, if it weren't for authorial intent you could be forgiven for thinking that Gix in The Brother's War was a separate entity from Gix in The Thrawn, but this novel makes it clear that the Preator and the man are the same being. How then did he lose his memory of his name and human identity? Well, that's where Xantcha comes in. Throughout the book, it becomes very clear that the way Old Phyrexia brainwashed people, including their own newts, was through cultish behavioral modification techniques. Up until she meets Urza and escapes, Xantcha is constantly being bombarded with abuse and propoganda by Gix and other high ranking Phyrexians that is designed to break one's will, and destroy your sense of self and identity. Its not that they go into your brain and re-code you like a computer (at least, not unless they are repurposing an artifact creature), its that they take your identity and mold it to serve their society. Your personality actually remains intact, as we see with Gix and others: he still behaves like the murderous human he once was, its just that over the thousands of years of being a Phyrexian his identity became completely consumed by Yawgmoth's will, and his old name became a distant memory from literally thousands of years past. The same happens with others who becomes compleated; indeed, they don't even appear to grant that "reward" until the person has earned it by submitting to them. The reason Xantcha never gets compleated is that she had an unbreakable will, and in the end Gix decided that it was better to simply execute her (on another plane, no less!) than keep trying. If they could have simply re-written her brain, he would have done so.
And that explains why characters like Volrath, Crovax, Ertai (who kept elements of his humanity like the ability to have romantic feelings, for instance) and others from the old sagas retained so much of their identities and personality after joining up with the Phyrexians. Becoming compleated doesn't remove your free will or change your original personality, you become a phyrexian after your will has already been broken, and the only personality change that occurs after Compleation is your change in loyalty and beliefs. The same likely applies to some (though perhaps not all) of the Mirrians that have been compleated by New Phyrexia: the Phyrexians didn't just abduct Ezuri because he was a Mirrian leader, for instance, they chose him because his power hungry personality already fit with the Phyrexian mindset and made him a prime candidate for compleation to begin with. Now, it is possible that because New Phyrexia is more open minded to using the full color spectrum that they can access true blue/white mind control magic, but they also had access to the full color spectrum on Rath and were picky about who they compleated there too. Their conquest isn't as simple as spreading oil like the Zerg spread creep in Starcraft, they do still fight and kill anyone who gets in their way. Those who are the most violently resistant to Phyrexia are the ones most likely to resist compleation as well. That's likely what makes them feel that Atraxa is their final victory-- she isn't just a magnum opus on the compleation process, but symbolic that they can break the will of even the most powerful and resistant Mirrian fighters.
At least, that is how I read it. There is an unfortunate dearth of information on New Phyrexia, and obviously the writers intend to make them different from Old Phyrexia in as many ways as they can. So there is no way of knowing how similar their compleation and brainwashing methods are to the days of Yagmoth. There probably is a ton of narrative convenience going on, especially since they only created Atraxa because they needed to justify their new four color commanders somehow.
Wow, that information and insight is greatly appreciated, sir or ma'am. Thank you, and I'm not sure if drawing you onto he forums is something that you wanted or not, but allow me to say welcome and thank you for joining the conversation. It's rally fascinating to me the old Phyrexian compleation process s you explained, and now I'm more curious than ever to know what has become of the world of New Phyrexia. The Phyrexians fascinate me so much due to their cult-like delusions and methods, whereas Bolas is just the straight-villain, Ob Nixilis is just evil and the Eldrazi were "unfathomable." I'd be curious to see if any of the compleated Mirrans could or would fill either the Mishra or Gix role.
Again, thank you for joining and sharing.
EDH - Yes, Each One is Named After a Song. I love tying music to my decks.
B Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief B - Fear of the Dark
WG Sigarda, Heron's Grace WG - Strength in Numbers
RG Xenagos, God of Revels RG - Fullmoon (It's werewolves)
RW Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn, the Purifier RW - The End is Nigh
60 Card Kitchen Table Decks
WUB Avacyn, Spirit Ferrier
RG Arlinn Kord's Howlpack
As for the Mishra and Gix roles, it should be noted that they were defined by old Phyrexia and the story arc of Urza's Saga. Mishra was Urza's brother, so that obviously is off the table-- other people in the story betrayed Dominaria to Phyrexia so that is not what makes his character special. Gix was a preator just like Elish Norn or Gin Gitaxis, but unlike the New Phyrexian preators Gix had a boss. Gix could fulfill the role of right hand man to Yawgmoth because there was a Father Of Machines he was answerable to. The five preators of New Phyrexia don't have a Father of Machines and are divided on what Phyrexia should be in the absence of Yawgmoth. Its also worth noting that in each book Gix serves a different narrative function: in The Thrawn he is representative of the corrupt undercurrents of Thrawn civilization, literally being imprisoned in a cave system underneath the city so that the social elite can ignore the problem. In The Brothers War he serves as a representative of Phyrexia as a whole and as an agent of corruption; he couldn't take the Mightstone and Weakstone directly, so he manipulates Mishra instead to prolong the war and get a foothold into Dominaria (which Urza sabotages at the end of the book). And in Planeswalker, he serves as the personal nemesis to Xantcha, who really doesn't have an equivalent in the current story. Xantcha was Phyrexian by birth-- indeed, she was grown in a vat, not even born-- so her rebellion against her masters is something quite different from the Mirrians or even Urabrask, whose vision for Phyrexia is less... tyrannical and a bit more like how Rath was ruled by the Evincars, but is nonetheless an ideal for Phyrexia all the same. Xantcha was thoroughly individualistic, using Phyrexian concepts to help survive but rejecting their core belief that All Shall Be One. Every part of her character is that way, from the simple things like having a name and chosen gender (newts are sexless) to more obvious things like allying with and befriending Phyrexia's greatest foe, Urza. When I think of a well written Black hero from this franchise, I always think of Xantcha first and foremost. Thing is, to the extent that she can be part of the current story she continues to exist as Karn (her heartstone being the key to his sentience), so its doubtful that they will retread that ground unless they give us a Xantcha card in a Commander set.
That said, New Phyrexia is explicitly caused by the oil corrupting the mind with visions of Old Phyrexia. I suppose it could simply drive most people mad and surrender to Phyrexia, like the abuse in Old Phyrexia, but it an least a few cases it seems to genuinely change perspective.
For now, I'm willing to assume the Machine Orthodoxy has access to true brainwashing, since they seem keen to forcibly convert from the non-White mirran factions.
That is what is stated, but it is genuinely confusing if not an outright plot-hole, depending on how you read previous works. The oil supposedly came from Xantcha's heartstone, and assuming that its the same kind of oil as before why did it suddenly get mind altering properties? Parts of Dominaria such as Urborg are covered in Phyrexian oil, yet nothing sinister has been indicated as happening there. Its just a dirty, greasy stain on the landscape. Of course, there was lore from before of people seeing visions of Phyrexia, particularly in dreams, and Mishra was driven to enter Phyrexia to obtain Dragon Engines because of dreams he had of Phyrexia. So maybe the oil is a red herring-- or alternatively, a clarification. Who knows.
My best guesses are that either its a special version of the oil meant to be in heartstones only (since those were essentially the receptacle of a Phyrexian newt's soul it could be that the visions of old phyrexia are in fact Xantcha's memories!), or that Phyrexian oil effects Mirrians differently for whatever reason (a mutation in the oil, say, or perhaps it effects artifact creates like this and most Mirrians come close enough except for Melira. One wonders what would happen if Esper was exposed to Phyrexian oil). Or hey, maybe its a symptom of Phthisis. The oil does contain powerstones, after all...
But yeah, I doubt the story department at WOTC cares enough to clarify the canon regarding New Phyrexia.
Retcon stick.
Certain planes get corrupted faster. Mirrodin fell because of the already metal-ness of the plane, (which is why Kaladesh and Alara-Esper would be the worst places for the oil) while more organic based planes would take a longer time. Only other plane so far we that has been taken over besides Mirrodin was Elspeth home world.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
It could be a retcon, but an article by Doug stated that the oil was altered by the five suns (which is also why Phyrexia is multicoloured now), which could explain why it managed to infect Mirrodin. It certainly is capable of taking many forms, like the mycosynth (stated to be a derivative of the oil), so there is some canon basis.
Your sun theory also doesn't explain Elsepths home plane which we know has been completed or at lest has a grip on her world.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I didn't mean the canon as of Tarkir (which only changed the "canon" of Tarkir really), I meant as the many, many changes they had in the between the Mirrodin blocks storylines, as well the confusing and fuzziness of the canon between the official wizards story info and the Quest for Karn Novel.
Also IIRC Brady Dommermuth was the one who giving us info since (he was the head of creative at the time) and most of his answers are lost to the inter-webs, but I believe the context was the reason Phyrexica was now in five color was because of the suns, but it doesn't mention if this is what gave the oil the power to mutate. As I have read it, Wizards seems to act as if this was always a "fail safe" in the oil.
True, I forgot we don't know if Elspeth home plane was attacked by branch of old phyrexia or has its own batch of oil growing.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
For all we know Elspeth's homeworld was an oldrexian holdout.
Fair enough; I thought you were referencing that because, despite the in-story claims that only Tarkir's history was changed, the Gatewatch characters appear to have had their stories subtly altered anyway and most people seem to chalk this up to the Tarkir story arc.
I never read Quest for Karn, and from everything I've heard about it, I don't think I missed anything relevant or fun.
Oh, that's a shame. That would bring us back to square one, then.
I'm curious, what are you thoughts about Belbe in this regard?
I actually haven't read Nemesis, but I do know a lot about it. I was warned that the books taking place between Urza's Destiny and Invasion were kinda boring and unnecessary (and also, my experience with the Weatherlight anthology suggested that these reports were probably right), so I never got around to spending money to read them. Nemesis I'm told was the best of the three, so I do know a bit about it, however.
Belbe was undead, and we know that the Phyrexians are hard Materialists that don't believe in the soul. This makes her a special case: they simply took her brain and implanted a bunch of instructions and new knowledge so that she would implement Yawmoth's will in the same exact manner that an artifact creature would. Her initial behavior upon being sent to Rath was robotic, whereas most other Compleated beings tend to be driven by whatever passions drove them towards Phyrexia in the first place. The fact that she began developing a new personality, romantic feelings, and rebellious thoughts were unknowable outcomes to Yawgmoth. Moreover, keep in mind that she had no memories of her past life as well. So again, its a special case.