The only thing I found awkward about Jace was why he wanted them to rush and leave right then. Or why he departed so rapidly without explaining anything. Urgency and stoicism felt natural here, but he was in and out without any clarification that I was confused. And he couldn't know Lilliana did not read her contract, so his repulsion is justified as well. I do think it foreshadows In Bolas's Clutches. It's too bad Jace is gone before warning her about it. At least Gideon's instincts are on point, even without telepathy himself.
It almost feels like Bolas will show up for the "In Bolas's Clutches" fresh off of crushing the Ajani & Jace Team offscreen and then will fill in his victory later. Cause yeah Jace and Ajani both seem to be acting like the final fight against Bolas is right away.
Because Nicol Bolas plans on invading Ravnica with his undead army (Invocation ver) through the use of a planar bridge. He will then employ the immortal sun to trap all planeswalkers on Ravnica so they can't just escape. Nicol Bolas is literally building a murder box for the heroes.
Seems kinda brilliant. Use plane with high PW traffic. Trap with Sun, use Undead Army to murder them all, capture the most powerful Necomancer capable of controlling said undead with a contract in default. No wonder he formed the Gatewatch. He wanted them to group against him and fall into the Ravnica trap.
All that probably means that Lili will need to die as well as Bolas, if the heroes are to win the day.
Eh Lili is no great loss. An easy trade to stop Bolas.
Story wise, probably not a great loss, no - she's only just started to become anything like a dynamic character. Easy trade? That remains to be seen, but I strongly doubt it. Remember she was the only walker who was able to even compete with Emrakul's influence. After being loosed from her final contractor and with Bolas at her side, I don't think it'll be easy. She'll take some killing.
Eh Lili is no great loss. An easy trade to stop Bolas.
Story wise, probably not a great loss, no - she's only just started to become anything like a dynamic character. Easy trade? That remains to be seen, but I strongly doubt it. Remember she was the only walker who was able to even compete with Emrakul's influence. After being loosed from her final contractor and with Bolas at her side, I don't think it'll be easy. She'll take some killing.
Meh most of her power is from the Chain Veil.
Jace has easily invaded her mind before. I suppose its a problem if he is feeling sentimental.
I meant more easy trade in the sense that if Lili must die to save Ravnica from Bolas then that is pretty easy trade to make in my book. Lili is no innocent.
So is Bolas farming sparks?
I agree that Lili is probably gonna die or something, and I can’t really say I’ll care too much. But then that seems unlikely given she’s one of the faces of Magic.
Eh Lili is no great loss. An easy trade to stop Bolas.
Story wise, probably not a great loss, no - she's only just started to become anything like a dynamic character. Easy trade? That remains to be seen, but I strongly doubt it. Remember she was the only walker who was able to even compete with Emrakul's influence. After being loosed from her final contractor and with Bolas at her side, I don't think it'll be easy. She'll take some killing.
Meh most of her power is from the Chain Veil.
Jace has easily invaded her mind before. I suppose its a problem if he is feeling sentimental.
I meant more easy trade in the sense that if Lili must die to save Ravnica from Bolas then that is pretty easy trade to make in my book. Lili is no innocent.
Oh yeah, I hear you. Still, I wouldn't discount her strength. Especially once Bolas gets hold of her and the Chain Veil. I think eventually she is probably the walker most likely not to survive the coming conflagration though.
So is Bolas farming sparks?
I agree that Lili is probably gonna die or something, and I can’t really say I’ll care too much. But then that seems unlikely given she’s one of the faces of Magic.
So is Bolas farming sparks?
I agree that Lili is probably gonna die or something, and I can’t really say I’ll care too much. But then that seems unlikely given she’s one of the faces of Magic.
There's always Ob Nixilis Reignited to take the mantle of black walker. He's out and about and we have no idea what he's been up to.
So is Bolas farming sparks?
I agree that Lili is probably gonna die or something, and I can’t really say I’ll care too much. But then that seems unlikely given she’s one of the faces of Magic.
There's always Ob Noxilis Reignited to take the mantle of black walker. He's out and about and we have no idea what he's been up to.
Mean more a Black character you can stick on the Gatewatch.
Vraska I guess? Gatewatch isn't suppose to be color Restricted or Balanced anymore.
Granted I still don't think Vraska making it out alive. Betraying Bolas does not tend to be good for ones survival or their families. Although Bolas does look to have missed at least one Umezawa. Granted Tezz has done well for himself but I guess he makes himself useful.
So is Bolas farming sparks?
I agree that Lili is probably gonna die or something, and I can’t really say I’ll care too much. But then that seems unlikely given she’s one of the faces of Magic.
Garruk was one of the faces of magic, then he got replaced with Nissa. If hey want a replacement for Liliana, there is always Vraska who plays into the "Monstrous Looks, Inner Beauty" trope which is opposite of Liliana's "Outer Beauty, Inner Monster".
As for Nicol Bolas farming sparks, yeah I could see it as he wants to be an old walker again.
Time will tell. Jace seems more prepared than he has been, which bodes well. Gideon needed humbling, so that's a step in the right direction. And Chandra has pulled her head in and decided not to be so much of a brat. You can kind of see that they're progressing characters towards a final convergence.
Vraska seems like a good addition to the team in terms of character. She has always wanted inclusion, and now has a chance at it.
At this point, any one of them could not survive. I won't predict whom, it's too early to tell. It'll be an interesting year lorewise though.
Seems kinda brilliant. Use plane with high PW traffic. Trap with Sun, use Undead Army to murder them all, capture the most powerful Necomancer capable of controlling said undead with a contract in default. No wonder he formed the Gatewatch. He wanted them to group against him and fall into the Ravnica trap.
"I'm not trapped in here with you, dragon. You're trapped in here with me!" ~Garruk, Apex Predator's next card
They have three fictions left to make Belzenlok/the Cabal feel like a credible threat.
It's kind of hilarious, but the Demonlord is rarely ever mentioned except in reference to getting killed. I did a keyword search, and below you'll find every single mention of Belzenlok's name in recent fictions:
EPISODE 9 (The latest): (10 Belzenlok mentions)
"The same thing we were doing when you ran away," Liliana said. "Planning to kill Belzenlok."
"First to destroy Belzenlok, then to defeat the Cabal," Jhoira told him.
"But you still don't have a way to kill Belzenlok without the Chain Veil, right?"
They had allies, a strategy, everything they needed to kill Belzenlok, except the weapon to do it.
"These are new allies. We've banded together to destroy Belzenlok."
We're committed to destroying Belzenlok, and we have everything we need to attack his Stronghold. It has to be done, and not just to free Liliana. He's close to taking over all of Dominaria."
"I agree Belzenlok has to be killed, but there's no time."
"Jace, we have a plan, we have a commitment to our allies, and we are ready to kill Belzenlok."
You said we had everything we need to kill Belzenlok.
The blade was a soul-drinker. Not that Belzenlok had a soul to drink. But there was no time to waste looking for some other method.
EPISODE 8: (0 Belzenlok mentions)
EPISODE 7: (0 Belzenlok mentions)
EPISODE 6: (5 Belzenlok mentions)
"We're going to kill Belzenlok and we need a time mage to help us get into the Stronghold."
"If there's any help I can give you to get your artifact, I will. But we're committed to killing Belzenlok."
"They're helping us kill Belzenlok so then they can go kill Nicol Bolas.
Once we kill Belzenlok, we'll both be free to leave the plane and rejoin our friends."
Only a few more pieces to put into place and they would be able to break into the Cabal's Stronghold and kill Belzenlok. But that was the easy part.
EPISODE 5: (16 Belzenlok mentions.) I won't list them all out here, but feel free to go do a search-- 11 of those mentions involve killing, destroying, or otherwise incapacitating Belzenlok.
There's absolutely no sense of danger nor fear for the guy. It's just an order of business that the heroes talk about very matter-of-factly, and I remember shaking my head at the "But that was the easy part" line. Seriously? That's the entire goal of the tale. If that's the easy part, why are we even telling this story?
I don't think Belzenlok has a chance of looking like a legit threat. If this team doesn't crush him then they really have no business challenging Bolas even with Ajani chipping in what another half dozen walkers? He should go down like a paper tiger much like all of Lili's other demons.
Time will tell. Jace seems more prepared than he has been, which bodes well. Gideon needed humbling, so that's a step in the right direction. And Chandra has pulled her head in and decided not to be so much of a brat. You can kind of see that they're progressing characters towards a final convergence.
Vraska seems like a good addition to the team in terms of character. She has always wanted inclusion, and now has a chance at it.
At this point, any one of them could not survive. I won't predict whom, it's too early to tell. It'll be an interesting year lorewise though.
I think Chandra is the safest by far. As long as Jaya is around Chandra cannot die. WOTC is not inverting old mentor goes first.
Jace is safe by having some of the strongest and most expensive walker cards around and being the "Blue Face" of Magic. I also think he has to go back to Vryn before they off him and even then its not likely any time soon. Yeah Teferi is around and they like harping on diversity but no one thinks the middle age black man is replacing the young white guy as face of the Franchise.
Gideon, I think is safe as long as he never sets foot on Theros. I can definitely see the Blackblade corrupting him and him going to Theros to finish what he started with Erebos. But I cannot see Gideon dying without going to Theros first.
Vraska is endanger of getting fridged hard. Either cause Bolas finds out about the betrayal or because a Lili, Agent of Bolas finds out Vraska stole her pet Jace. I suppose even Tezz could kill her to grind the proverbial axe. A little more character development for Jace.
Ajani meh same as Gideon probably not dying unless he goes back to Theros but this is less absolute and he did get in Bolas way before so going up against him again is testing his luck. Dies on Theros or to Bolas.
Teferi just joined so safe for the foreseeable future not going to kill the only black guy on the team.
Karn assuming he joins cannot die unless he goes back to New Phyrexia first. Karn similar strong cards as Jace.
Jaya dead women walking, heroic sacrifice pretty much guaranteed by the conventions of old mentors in fantasy genre.
Nissa safe and warming the bench until we go back to Zendikar.
There is a blossoming romance 'twixt Gideon and Lili. Early days, but I can see it coming along. I do wonder if in the clutch, Gideon dying would cause Lili to sacrifice herself to help and Bolas' plans. Total speculation, but she's got her claws in him already.
There is a blossoming romance 'twixt Gideon and Lili. Early days, but I can see it coming along. I do wonder if in the clutch, Gideon dying would cause Lili to sacrifice herself to help and Bolas' plans. Total speculation, but she's got her claws in him already.
Does anyone not expect this romance to end in tragedy? I seriously doubt Gideon and Liliana get a happy ending.
Now granted any character can die in theory but during the Bolas Arc based on characters we know who are around and at least were on the hero side.
Death Watch: Jaya, Vraska, Ajani, Lili in that order I say.
There is a blossoming romance 'twixt Gideon and Lili. Early days, but I can see it coming along. I do wonder if in the clutch, Gideon dying would cause Lili to sacrifice herself to help and Bolas' plans. Total speculation, but she's got her claws in him already.
Does anyone not expect this romance to end in tragedy? I seriously doubt Gideon and Liliana get a happy ending.
Absolutely! It's a trainwreck waiting to happen. It'll be cool to see Gideon get a little less preppy though, and maybe go boros or orzhov once he dons the Blacklbade Reforged.
I won't speculate regarding any further deaths. I will say it'll be interesting to see how Ral Zarek reacts when he sees the full Bolas plan.
I do wonder if the Guilds of Ravnica will enter this story arc straight split between Team Bolas and Team Jace....
Ral is on the payroll but he is not running his guild ala Vraska.
But Ral can easily be the what have I done character who has a change of heart and gets killed for it.
I wonder when Bolas strikes down Niz in this story.
The only thing I found awkward about Jace was why he wanted them to rush and leave right then. Or why he departed so rapidly without explaining anything. Urgency and stoicism felt natural here, but he was in and out without any clarification that I was confused. And he couldn't know Lilliana did not read her contract, so his repulsion is justified as well. I do think it foreshadows In Bolas's Clutches. It's too bad Jace is gone before warning her about it. At least Gideon's instincts are on point, even without telepathy himself.
It almost feels like Bolas will show up for the "In Bolas's Clutches" fresh off of crushing the Ajani & Jace Team offscreen and then will fill in his victory later. Cause yeah Jace and Ajani both seem to be acting like the final fight against Bolas is right away.
I think Bolas will actually arrive, retrieve Lilliana and depart for the final fight and arrive with her on his team to face Jace and Ajani, who have been preparing during this time, only to have Gideon and Chandra (perhaps Nissa) have no choice but to follow up with Jace and join the fight (once Lilliana is wisked away), albeit in a delayed but still efficient timeframe.
I agree that is most likely. I am just saying Jace and Ajani are acting like the fight against Bolas is happening at the same time as any fight against Belzenlok.
They are like super gungho and acting like they don't have time at all to mop up Belzenlok before fighting Bolas.
I think this is actually fairly logical. They simply don't know when Bolas will be invading Ravnica, could be next month, next year, or tomorrow. They have to get all their preparations done NOW, else they could be too late.
I do wonder if the Guilds of Ravnica will enter this story arc straight split between Team Bolas and Team Jace....
Ral is on the payroll but he is not running his guild ala Vraska.
But Ral can easily be the what have I done character who has a change of heart and gets killed for it.
I wonder when Bolas strikes down Niz in this story.
I can see that possibly happening with Ral. It's been pretty well established that the only plane in the multiverse he really cares about is Ravnica.
It's also possible that he's under the mistaken impression that if he helps Bolas get whatever it is that he's after, Bolas will leave the rest of Ravnica alone. If he comes to realize that was simply never going to be the case, he'd probably flip on Bolas.
I do wonder if the Guilds of Ravnica will enter this story arc straight split between Team Bolas and Team Jace....
Ral is on the payroll but he is not running his guild ala Vraska.
But Ral can easily be the what have I done character who has a change of heart and gets killed for it.
I wonder when Bolas strikes down Niz in this story.
Depends on what parun Niv-Mizzet thinks of Nicol Bolas. Has a deal been secretly brokered? Does Niv-Mizzet hate a dragon smarter than he? Has their been a recent change in the power structure where Ral is now leading Izzet? As Jace is going to conspire with Niv-Mizzet.
Haha Jace told Lili to eat it, It only took 3 different sides of him uniting as one Mega Jace to get it through his skull that Lili is a terrible influence and not worth his time.
As for Nicol Bolas' plan, I still don't think we know everything. There are two major factors we have zero evidence for.
1. The Why? The main theory is "to get his Oldwalker power back" but how does Trapping Planeswalkers on Ravnica work with that?
2. Why on Ravnica? Nicol has the power to just take over planes as he pleases, he has to have several planes where he has been entrenched in power for..thousands of years much like he ruled Madara on Dominaria. "God _____ Nicol Bolas" is very likely the most said phrase in the multiverse considering at the height of his power he said he ruled "Half the planes" and I see no reason for him to really fib on that.
There is something very specific to Ravnica and Nicol Bolas' plan we don't know about yet.
^Bolas can't have ruled half the planes. The Multiverse is virtually infinite.
I like Bolas and he's a fun villain, but I don't like how his vast age and reach have both served to overshadow and diminish Yawgmoth by comparison -- especially since Yawgmoth is supposed to have dwarfed even the Oldwalkers in power.
Yeah, but don't forget, Bolas has overpowered Oldwalkers, too. He got his start by taking out a giant leviathan PW, and in Spiral he made light work of both Teferi and Leshrac.
I think even the cast understands that Belzenlok is just a mini boss. Just a bump in the road to Bolas. And as I've said before I dont think we're supposed to feel like Belz is a threat. Hence why he's stealing the feats of others instead of hyping up his own badassness.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
All that probably means that Lili will need to die as well as Bolas, if the heroes are to win the day.
Story wise, probably not a great loss, no - she's only just started to become anything like a dynamic character. Easy trade? That remains to be seen, but I strongly doubt it. Remember she was the only walker who was able to even compete with Emrakul's influence. After being loosed from her final contractor and with Bolas at her side, I don't think it'll be easy. She'll take some killing.
Meh most of her power is from the Chain Veil.
Jace has easily invaded her mind before. I suppose its a problem if he is feeling sentimental.
I meant more easy trade in the sense that if Lili must die to save Ravnica from Bolas then that is pretty easy trade to make in my book. Lili is no innocent.
I agree that Lili is probably gonna die or something, and I can’t really say I’ll care too much. But then that seems unlikely given she’s one of the faces of Magic.
Oh yeah, I hear you. Still, I wouldn't discount her strength. Especially once Bolas gets hold of her and the Chain Veil. I think eventually she is probably the walker most likely not to survive the coming conflagration though.
I think she should die will she I doubt it.
WOTC loves their sexy bad girl.
RG Chandra is cool. Gruul Smash.
There's always Ob Nixilis Reignited to take the mantle of black walker. He's out and about and we have no idea what he's been up to.
Mean more a Black character you can stick on the Gatewatch.
Vraska I guess? Gatewatch isn't suppose to be color Restricted or Balanced anymore.
Granted I still don't think Vraska making it out alive. Betraying Bolas does not tend to be good for ones survival or their families. Although Bolas does look to have missed at least one Umezawa. Granted Tezz has done well for himself but I guess he makes himself useful.
As for Nicol Bolas farming sparks, yeah I could see it as he wants to be an old walker again.
Vraska seems like a good addition to the team in terms of character. She has always wanted inclusion, and now has a chance at it.
At this point, any one of them could not survive. I won't predict whom, it's too early to tell. It'll be an interesting year lorewise though.
"I'm not trapped in here with you, dragon. You're trapped in here with me!" ~Garruk, Apex Predator's next card
It's kind of hilarious, but the Demonlord is rarely ever mentioned except in reference to getting killed. I did a keyword search, and below you'll find every single mention of Belzenlok's name in recent fictions:
EPISODE 9 (The latest): (10 Belzenlok mentions)
EPISODE 8: (0 Belzenlok mentions)
EPISODE 7: (0 Belzenlok mentions)
EPISODE 6: (5 Belzenlok mentions)
EPISODE 5: (16 Belzenlok mentions.) I won't list them all out here, but feel free to go do a search-- 11 of those mentions involve killing, destroying, or otherwise incapacitating Belzenlok.
There's absolutely no sense of danger nor fear for the guy. It's just an order of business that the heroes talk about very matter-of-factly, and I remember shaking my head at the "But that was the easy part" line. Seriously? That's the entire goal of the tale. If that's the easy part, why are we even telling this story?
I think Chandra is the safest by far. As long as Jaya is around Chandra cannot die. WOTC is not inverting old mentor goes first.
Jace is safe by having some of the strongest and most expensive walker cards around and being the "Blue Face" of Magic. I also think he has to go back to Vryn before they off him and even then its not likely any time soon. Yeah Teferi is around and they like harping on diversity but no one thinks the middle age black man is replacing the young white guy as face of the Franchise.
Gideon, I think is safe as long as he never sets foot on Theros. I can definitely see the Blackblade corrupting him and him going to Theros to finish what he started with Erebos. But I cannot see Gideon dying without going to Theros first.
Vraska is endanger of getting fridged hard. Either cause Bolas finds out about the betrayal or because a Lili, Agent of Bolas finds out Vraska stole her pet Jace. I suppose even Tezz could kill her to grind the proverbial axe. A little more character development for Jace.
Ajani meh same as Gideon probably not dying unless he goes back to Theros but this is less absolute and he did get in Bolas way before so going up against him again is testing his luck. Dies on Theros or to Bolas.
Teferi just joined so safe for the foreseeable future not going to kill the only black guy on the team.
Karn assuming he joins cannot die unless he goes back to New Phyrexia first. Karn similar strong cards as Jace.
Jaya dead women walking, heroic sacrifice pretty much guaranteed by the conventions of old mentors in fantasy genre.
Nissa safe and warming the bench until we go back to Zendikar.
Alive: Jace, Chandra, Nissa, Vraska
Unknown: Koth, Elspeth, Sorin, Kiora, Tibalt, Garruk, etc.
Does anyone not expect this romance to end in tragedy? I seriously doubt Gideon and Liliana get a happy ending.
Now granted any character can die in theory but during the Bolas Arc based on characters we know who are around and at least were on the hero side.
Death Watch: Jaya, Vraska, Ajani, Lili in that order I say.
Absolutely! It's a trainwreck waiting to happen. It'll be cool to see Gideon get a little less preppy though, and maybe go boros or orzhov once he dons the Blacklbade Reforged.
I won't speculate regarding any further deaths. I will say it'll be interesting to see how Ral Zarek reacts when he sees the full Bolas plan.
Ral is on the payroll but he is not running his guild ala Vraska.
But Ral can easily be the what have I done character who has a change of heart and gets killed for it.
I wonder when Bolas strikes down Niz in this story.
I think this is actually fairly logical. They simply don't know when Bolas will be invading Ravnica, could be next month, next year, or tomorrow. They have to get all their preparations done NOW, else they could be too late.
I can see that possibly happening with Ral. It's been pretty well established that the only plane in the multiverse he really cares about is Ravnica.
It's also possible that he's under the mistaken impression that if he helps Bolas get whatever it is that he's after, Bolas will leave the rest of Ravnica alone. If he comes to realize that was simply never going to be the case, he'd probably flip on Bolas.
As for Nicol Bolas' plan, I still don't think we know everything. There are two major factors we have zero evidence for.
1. The Why? The main theory is "to get his Oldwalker power back" but how does Trapping Planeswalkers on Ravnica work with that?
2. Why on Ravnica? Nicol has the power to just take over planes as he pleases, he has to have several planes where he has been entrenched in power for..thousands of years much like he ruled Madara on Dominaria. "God _____ Nicol Bolas" is very likely the most said phrase in the multiverse considering at the height of his power he said he ruled "Half the planes" and I see no reason for him to really fib on that.
There is something very specific to Ravnica and Nicol Bolas' plan we don't know about yet.
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
I like Bolas and he's a fun villain, but I don't like how his vast age and reach have both served to overshadow and diminish Yawgmoth by comparison -- especially since Yawgmoth is supposed to have dwarfed even the Oldwalkers in power.
Click the pic for more info.