Honestly, when Ugin was first spoiled, his appearance made some form of relation to Bolas inevitable. (For the record, I was among the people who commented on them looking so similar. One point to dumbledore.) I'm not sure if it was planned from the start, but it would've been even dumber, if he wasn't Bolas' twin/brother/whatever.
You're right, when he was spoiled many people immediately called that he was an elder dragon, and thus at least a cousin of Bolas. The only new revelation here is that Ugin is his twin. This all could have already been the plan, as Ugin has essentially acted as a light mirror to Bolas and his resemblance, as you mentioned, is even closer than the other elders. By last minute story decision, I think it was more about making Ugin such a major feature of the story, and choosing to tell the Bolas origin in this way. We could have, for example, had a series of vignettes featuring important Bolas moments through the the millennia, from the Elder Dragon war, to ruling Madara, to what he did following sealing the rift, to his defeat in the conflux, etc. Ugin could have been a footnote, a boring brother that fled from his greatness only to foolishly challenge him and be quicky defeated, but focusing on the twin relationship, reinforced by the framing story, and making it all about that made Ugin more prominent
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Honestly, when Ugin was first spoiled, his appearance made some form of relation to Bolas inevitable. (For the record, I was among the people who commented on them looking so similar. One point to dumbledore.) I'm not sure if it was planned from the start, but it would've been even dumber, if he wasn't Bolas' twin/brother/whatever.
You're right, when he was spoiled many people immediately called that he was an elder dragon, and thus at least a cousin of Bolas. The only new revelation here is that Ugin is his twin. This all could have already been the plan, as Ugin has essentially acted as a light mirror to Bolas and his resemblance, as you mentioned, is even closer than the other elders. By last minute story decision, I think it was more about making Ugin such a major feature of the story, and choosing to tell the Bolas origin in this way. We could have, for example, had a series of vignettes featuring important Bolas moments through the the millennia, from the Elder Dragon war, to ruling Madara, to what he did following sealing the rift, to his defeat in the conflux, etc. Ugin could have been a footnote, a boring brother that fled from his greatness only to foolishly challenge him and be quicky defeated, but focusing on the twin relationship, reinforced by the framing story, and making it all about that made Ugin more p
I believe the choice to have the frame story set on Tarkir (and thus putting Ugin more in the spotlight) was Kates idea. And while I don't think neccarly Ugin was going to be Bolas twin brother from the start, he was thought up as a twin/parallel/opposite to Bolas (Ugin the Spirit Dragon ultimate is a positive version of Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker ultimate, the cards with similar poses in the art, how they play with the frame and mana cost). Could be they left things ambiguous until they figured out what would work better/feel right with what the story was coming too.
Another factor could be (that Maro can't say) is maybe Ugin will show up in the Ravnica 3 "block" and development didn't want 3 colorless walkers to deal with and wanted Ugin in the future set instead of trying to fit him in with Bolas and the C19 walkers.
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I just realized that Ugin is yet another planeswalker native to Dominaria. Sheesh, if Bolas wanted to set up a planeswalker factory, he should probably do it in Dominaria.
I just realized that Ugin is yet another planeswalker native to Dominaria. Sheesh, if Bolas wanted to set up a planeswalker factory, he should probably do it in Dominaria.
I think that it only seems that way because a) Dominaria is one of the largest planes and b) we have followed it the most and over the longest time out of all planes. Therefore it's just probable that any planeswalker appearing in the story might be from there. There is also the whole "nexus of the multiverse"-thing of course.
Since Ugin was always meant as a mirror version of Bolas, using his story as a framing device to characterize Bolas makes sense to me. It also helps develop Ugin, which means that we can kill two birds with one stone. Four if we also take into account that we delve deeper in post-Khanfall tarkirian as well as dominarian history.
It makes sense it is or was the Nexus of the Multiverse and has the most sets which means it has the most characters and thus walkers. ALso its distorted by Oldwalkers use to being immortal so you could have a lot of walkers around at the same time despite being separated by centuries and millennium in terms of birth date and sparking.
This last chapter sent me for a loop because I can't figure out when in the timeline this story happens. When Baishya started talking about the rope and it relating to time, I began to assume that this is pre-khans of Tarkir and this is Bolas coming back to finish off Ugin which allows the clans to defeat the dragons to start the whole timeline of khans and well before Sarkhan Vol did his time travel.
This last chapter sent me for a loop because I can't figure out when in the timeline this story happens. When Baishya started talking about the rope and it relating to time, I began to assume that this is pre-khans of Tarkir and this is Bolas coming back to finish off Ugin which allows the clans to defeat the dragons to start the whole timeline of khans and well before Sarkhan Vol did his time travel.
Can't be pre-khans of Tarkir. The hedron cradle's existence necessitates that the events follow Sarkhan Vol's jaunt to the past. We also have numerous references to the Khanfall in the stories. This makes it evident that this occurs in the dragons of Tarkir timeline 1-2 generations after the Khanfall.
Bolas is terrifying. Utterly terrifying. Geez, I expected the pregnant woman to be either him or one of his agents, but I wasn't ready for how that all unfolded.
Is anyone else finding this Bolas even scarier than Amonkhet Bolas? I mean, the damage he caused on Amonkhet was hideous and painful, but here he's practically a horror-movie villain, creeping in the shadows, playing inside the protagonists minds, and pervading the increasingly dark and sinister atmosphere rather than raining lightning and brimstone outright.
Oh, and this line, especially. The culmination:
"The laughter cracked as the woman's smile widened, curling back around her head, mouth splitting as if cut by a blade to expose her throat, lips peeling away to consume her head and then her shoulders and then she turned inside out in a grotesque distortion of birth."
Sauron and Voldemort only wish they could be this scary. The author seems to have taken a cue from J. K. Rowling, specifically with Voldemort's snake bursting out of an old lady's neck, but this was creepier times 10.
So this must be some failed attempt by nichol bolas to re-kill his brother after sharkan vol saved him with his time travel stuff. With only 2 chapters left i wonder how they manage to stop him, he is right at the doorstep and with all the power he has i find it hard to believe they did that.
I kinda get the feeling that Ugin transfers himself into Baishya or Yasova temporarily while/when Bolas enacts whatever plan he's come up with for killing Ugin again, before getting transfered back into the hedrons. Probably Baishya, as Naiva likely falls to Bolas' influences, and that would be more symbolic.
This would give Bolas is illusion of having finished Ugin off, but not really.
"The laughter cracked as the woman's smile widened, curling back around her head, mouth splitting as if cut by a blade to expose her throat, lips peeling away to consume her head and then her shoulders and then she turned inside out in a grotesque distortion of birth."
My thoughts when reading that passage: "I can imagine this as a page in an Ito Junji manga".
First of all, thanks Ugin buddy for telling Bolas about other planes even though you realized how terrible he was. Could have been Dominaria's problem and now he's after the whole multiverse. Great insight there (like yeah, as far as Ugin knew, Bolas might never have any way of reaching other worlds, but Ugin himself admitted that he basically knew nothing about the nature of planeswalking... so like...)
Also, I agree with everyone that the purpose of the Tarkir plot is a bit confusing. Yasova seems to think that whatever Ugin is trying to tell her is really really important ... so far it's been a lot of back story that is interesting to us but frankly useless to the people of Tarkir 1,000 years before he will be reborn. What is he putting all these poor people through this stress for?
And lastly, ah, did no one else find it notable that Ugin's first planeswalk was to the Meditation Plane? Like, did Bolas somehow steal the Meditation Plane from Ugin? Do Bolas and Ugin both naturally have a version of the Meditation Plane because they are twins? But we've decided Bolas isn't a natural-born walker anyway. Or, is the Meditation Plane not actually belong to Bolas and has some implications towards the cosmological nature of the multiverse? Or could Ugin and Bolas be in some sort of cahoots!? (I mean probably no, but given that Bolas likes to deceive people and wear disguises ... I don't know where I'm going with this. I just don't trust Ugin. That aloof lizard seems a bit too concerned with the cosmological importance of things and not really concerned with the well-being of individual lesser creatures)
I don't think that was the Meditation Plane. I thought it was as well at first but I think it was just Ugin's understanding of the Blind Eternities. And it wasn't his first walk. Tarkir was definitely his first walk.
Besides wasn't it some group of people who met there in spirit that Bolas took it from?
I don't think that was the Meditation Plane. I thought it was as well at first but I think it was just Ugin's understanding of the Blind Eternities. And it wasn't his first walk. Tarkir was definitely his first walk.
I'm pretty sure it was saying that Ugin went from Dominaria to the Meditation Plane (or whatever) and then immediately on to Tarkir.
I looked again and it says this:
"He seeks in his mind for the spark that opens the way between worlds. In a wash of invisible, rippling flame, he shifts through a blind, disorienting darkness and, after a moment of stomach-churning unpleasantness, finds himself again floating above the still waters and their mysterious aura of meditative peace."
So the plane is separate from the "blind, disorienting darkness", which matches how every single other walker has described the Blind Eternities. So it's definitely its own place. And they dropped the "meditative" keyword. Sounds like the Meditation Plane to me.
And lastly, ah, did no one else find it notable that Ugin's first planeswalk was to the Meditation Plane? Like, did Bolas somehow steal the Meditation Plane from Ugin? Do Bolas and Ugin both naturally have a version of the Meditation Plane because they are twins? But we've decided Bolas isn't a natural-born walker anyway. Or, is the Meditation Plane not actually belong to Bolas and has some implications towards the cosmological nature of the multiverse? Or could Ugin and Bolas be in some sort of cahoots!? (I mean probably no, but given that Bolas likes to deceive people and wear disguises ... I don't know where I'm going with this. I just don't trust Ugin. That aloof lizard seems a bit too concerned with the cosmological importance of things and not really concerned with the well-being of individual lesser creatures)
I don't think that was the Meditation Plane. I thought it was as well at first but I think it was just Ugin's understanding of the Blind Eternities. And it wasn't his first walk. Tarkir was definitely his first walk.
Besides wasn't it some group of people who met there in spirit that Bolas took it from?
Uhh yes it was my first thought and reply on this thread.
Here is the passage from Story 4 : "
A scouring wind whirled down from inside and outside the heavens and dragged me into a terrifying storm of darkness where I could not even draw breath and felt my lungs being crushed by a weight of dread. A force twisted my body as if trying to turn me inside out. For an instant, my mind went blank, unseeing, unfeeling, and then with a wrench, I came back to myself.
To my astonishment, I found myself floating above a featureless sea, so flat and still I could see my own reflection in the water: my horns, my scales, my eyes like twin sparks burning bright. I drifted in bewilderment, rended by the grief of losing the brother I had trusted and stupefied by the sheer jarring astonishment of being torn from the only place I had never known and flung into the space between the planes.
For I understood then that Te Ju Ki had taught me the truth, that she had seen this place in a vision. She was physically frail, tied to the soil of her home, but her mind could range where her body and magic could not go.
She thought no one could cross between worlds, but now I was there, walking between the planes she had told me about.
With that thought like an anchor, I fell as a shooting star falls: helplessly, burning up, obliterated by its passage.
When I woke again in my body, I stood here, awake, afresh, alive, on Tarkir. And I felt the land welcome me, as if I had finally come home."
And from Story 6 : "The landscape is a silvery sheet of water as flat and reflective as a mirror extending to the horizon on all sides. Here and there rocky islands like spires rise from the endless sea, each creating a perfect resting place on which to meditate.
No wind stirs the air, yet glimmering, translucent globes float like bubbles caught in a breeze that touches nothing else.
One of these globes drifts close, and closer yet to the dreaming shadow of the girl asleep atop the waters. When its frail surface touches the edge of her misty form, it pops. The thin sphere of liquid spills memory into the shadow of her mind.
A dragon hovers over the still waters, staring into its reflection, a mirror which looks back on itself. The reflection is so complete in every detail that it might be the original dragon looking into a mirroring sea, and the dragon floating aloft might be its reflection, complete in every detail.
"What is this place?" the dragon says and, hearing his own voice, lashes his tail in surprise. But the lashing tail stirs no wind. The waters do not ripple. Only the reflection moves as the dragon answers itself.
"This must be one of the planes of which Te Ju Ki speaks. I have walked between worlds . . ."
The realization sparks a billow of shimmering, lightless flame that seems to enfold the dragon, and just like that it vanishes.
The water waits motionless, calm, and yet expectant, almost aware. Another globe spins up to the shadow of the sleeping girl, and pops.
The dragon falls in confusion, opening its wings at the last moment to settle atop a jagged peak. But this is not its smooth-sloped birth mountain presiding over a magnificent, rich landscape. This is a wild, stormy, rugged world only half born, called Tarkir"
Definately first walk to Meditation plane, THEN to Tarkir
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Been a member here for over a dozen years. Playing since '95 just got lost in the twitch shuffle.
And lastly, ah, did no one else find it notable that Ugin's first planeswalk was to the Meditation Plane? Like, did Bolas somehow steal the Meditation Plane from Ugin? Do Bolas and Ugin both naturally have a version of the Meditation Plane because they are twins? But we've decided Bolas isn't a natural-born walker anyway. Or, is the Meditation Plane not actually belong to Bolas and has some implications towards the cosmological nature of the multiverse? Or could Ugin and Bolas be in some sort of cahoots!? (I mean probably no, but given that Bolas likes to deceive people and wear disguises ... I don't know where I'm going with this. I just don't trust Ugin. That aloof lizard seems a bit too concerned with the cosmological importance of things and not really concerned with the well-being of individual lesser creatures)
I don't think that was the Meditation Plane. I thought it was as well at first but I think it was just Ugin's understanding of the Blind Eternities. And it wasn't his first walk. Tarkir was definitely his first walk.
Besides wasn't it some group of people who met there in spirit that Bolas took it from?
Uhh yes it was my first thought and reply on this thread.
Here is the passage from Story 4 : "
A scouring wind whirled down from inside and outside the heavens and dragged me into a terrifying storm of darkness where I could not even draw breath and felt my lungs being crushed by a weight of dread. A force twisted my body as if trying to turn me inside out. For an instant, my mind went blank, unseeing, unfeeling, and then with a wrench, I came back to myself.
To my astonishment, I found myself floating above a featureless sea, so flat and still I could see my own reflection in the water: my horns, my scales, my eyes like twin sparks burning bright. I drifted in bewilderment, rended by the grief of losing the brother I had trusted and stupefied by the sheer jarring astonishment of being torn from the only place I had never known and flung into the space between the planes.
For I understood then that Te Ju Ki had taught me the truth, that she had seen this place in a vision. She was physically frail, tied to the soil of her home, but her mind could range where her body and magic could not go.
She thought no one could cross between worlds, but now I was there, walking between the planes she had told me about.
With that thought like an anchor, I fell as a shooting star falls: helplessly, burning up, obliterated by its passage.
When I woke again in my body, I stood here, awake, afresh, alive, on Tarkir. And I felt the land welcome me, as if I had finally come home."
And from Story 6 : "The landscape is a silvery sheet of water as flat and reflective as a mirror extending to the horizon on all sides. Here and there rocky islands like spires rise from the endless sea, each creating a perfect resting place on which to meditate.
No wind stirs the air, yet glimmering, translucent globes float like bubbles caught in a breeze that touches nothing else.
One of these globes drifts close, and closer yet to the dreaming shadow of the girl asleep atop the waters. When its frail surface touches the edge of her misty form, it pops. The thin sphere of liquid spills memory into the shadow of her mind.
A dragon hovers over the still waters, staring into its reflection, a mirror which looks back on itself. The reflection is so complete in every detail that it might be the original dragon looking into a mirroring sea, and the dragon floating aloft might be its reflection, complete in every detail.
"What is this place?" the dragon says and, hearing his own voice, lashes his tail in surprise. But the lashing tail stirs no wind. The waters do not ripple. Only the reflection moves as the dragon answers itself.
"This must be one of the planes of which Te Ju Ki speaks. I have walked between worlds . . ."
The realization sparks a billow of shimmering, lightless flame that seems to enfold the dragon, and just like that it vanishes.
The water waits motionless, calm, and yet expectant, almost aware. Another globe spins up to the shadow of the sleeping girl, and pops.
The dragon falls in confusion, opening its wings at the last moment to settle atop a jagged peak. But this is not its smooth-sloped birth mountain presiding over a magnificent, rich landscape. This is a wild, stormy, rugged world only half born, called Tarkir"
Definately first walk to Meditation plane, THEN to Tarkir
To be fair, the story 4 excerpt above only describes a still sea and nothing else. Could be the Meditation plane, but also, could not be. The story 6 excerpt seems clear, to me, to be within the mind of Ugin, and the girl is experiencing Ugin's memories within Ugin's mind. His mind shares characteristics with the meditation plane, with the rocky outcroppings and such. But when the memory of the still sea is shared, it doesn't say anything about it being the same sea as the one the girl is resting near. Then it again describes Tarkir with another memory within Ugin's mind.
So I wouldn't say the still sea plane is definitely the meditation plane. It could be. But it's not definite. Nothing said 'that same, mirror-like surface.' The three things are separate in the narrative.
Truth be told, though, I don't know much about the meditation plane apart from art I've seen over the years and visits there in stories. I always thought Bolas created it. It doesn't seem a natural plane and he seems to have a degree of control over it. If that's the case, both could have created their own plane, or Ugin could have that 'realm' within his mind to help him meditate, Bolas saw it, and decided to make it real.
But yeah. There are similarities between the still sea plane and the meditation plane, but I'm not sold on them being the same. The still sea plane describes only the sea. The mind of Ugin specifically points out rocks to rest on. Maybe Ugin based his mind palace/mediation plane on that first plane.
-We get a version of the birth of Bolas to his first "fight" with Ugin but from his pov
-Bolas sure isn't hurting in self-esteem
-Sadly Bolas didn't steal his spark like I thought but instead his rage over Ugin being a planeswalker is what sparked him.
-Bolas explores the multiverse then goes looking for Ugin, finding the elder dragon war is over and the few elders we know survived.
-The ego on Bolas geez, staying his is the only walker when clearly Ugin was before.
-So the plane was indeed the Meditation Realm, Bolas finds Ugin there and Ugin attacks for Bolas who in self defense killed Ugin in the Meditation Realm and it somehow broke the plane. After this Bolas returns to Domiaria on an island called Madara.
Story felt shorter today tho could be because the first chuck is info we already know. I wonder if anything from Pov is true. He's lies a lot but some of his tale might had some seed of truth in it.
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These stories have been very good until now, but this is the first one I didn't care for. Bolas feels different here. Yeah, his ego is as big as we know it should be, but he doesn't feel as dangerous and brilliant here as he's been portrayed up until now. He allows Naiva to cajole him and manipulate his emotions, he bothers to explain himself to her, and even though he's playing her and trying to win her over (which he does in the end), for most of the story it feels like this girl is playing him. Bolas, especially pre-mending Bolas, should just be able to seize her mind and bend her to his will.
Furthermore, this story gives us almost nothing. We know we cannot trust Bolas' version of these events anyway, since so much of what we're reading is just his self-glorifying lies. Everything we learned about his later fights with Ugin and his clash with Ugin in the Meditation Realm would have come better from Ugin's perspective than from Bolas' waters-muddying monologue.
I get that the guy has "all the time in the worlds," but surely the Great and Glorious Bolas has better things to do than sit around chatting and justifying himself to a teenage girl?
It just feels out of character and incommensurate with what we know of Bolas's genius and power.
It's obvious Bolas is lying. There are huge holes in his version of the story. How Ugin is a coward and Bolas was the first walker, yet it's clear as day that Ugin was first. Or how Bolas acknowledges the death of his sister, but makes no mention of it in their birth where he claims he woke first and alone, ready to fly. When in reality, it makes more sense that he was tangled near where she had been killed, with enough time to witness it, and an excuse as to why they couldn't assist. Otherwise, why didn't they intervene?
Yeah, Bolas is clearly lying, or he's so delusional that he believes what he's saying and is just that much of a narcissist that his entire perception of reality is warped as a result.
Also, the Mediation realm was artificially created, according to the story. Did Ugin create it? Or did another planeswalker predate him and create it?
You're right, when he was spoiled many people immediately called that he was an elder dragon, and thus at least a cousin of Bolas. The only new revelation here is that Ugin is his twin. This all could have already been the plan, as Ugin has essentially acted as a light mirror to Bolas and his resemblance, as you mentioned, is even closer than the other elders. By last minute story decision, I think it was more about making Ugin such a major feature of the story, and choosing to tell the Bolas origin in this way. We could have, for example, had a series of vignettes featuring important Bolas moments through the the millennia, from the Elder Dragon war, to ruling Madara, to what he did following sealing the rift, to his defeat in the conflux, etc. Ugin could have been a footnote, a boring brother that fled from his greatness only to foolishly challenge him and be quicky defeated, but focusing on the twin relationship, reinforced by the framing story, and making it all about that made Ugin more prominent
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I believe the choice to have the frame story set on Tarkir (and thus putting Ugin more in the spotlight) was Kates idea. And while I don't think neccarly Ugin was going to be Bolas twin brother from the start, he was thought up as a twin/parallel/opposite to Bolas (Ugin the Spirit Dragon ultimate is a positive version of Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker ultimate, the cards with similar poses in the art, how they play with the frame and mana cost). Could be they left things ambiguous until they figured out what would work better/feel right with what the story was coming too.
Another factor could be (that Maro can't say) is maybe Ugin will show up in the Ravnica 3 "block" and development didn't want 3 colorless walkers to deal with and wanted Ugin in the future set instead of trying to fit him in with Bolas and the C19 walkers.
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He is currently the earliest known Planeswalker, it is highly doubtful he is the first first.
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I think that it only seems that way because a) Dominaria is one of the largest planes and b) we have followed it the most and over the longest time out of all planes. Therefore it's just probable that any planeswalker appearing in the story might be from there. There is also the whole "nexus of the multiverse"-thing of course.
Since Ugin was always meant as a mirror version of Bolas, using his story as a framing device to characterize Bolas makes sense to me. It also helps develop Ugin, which means that we can kill two birds with one stone. Four if we also take into account that we delve deeper in post-Khanfall tarkirian as well as dominarian history.
Can't be pre-khans of Tarkir. The hedron cradle's existence necessitates that the events follow Sarkhan Vol's jaunt to the past. We also have numerous references to the Khanfall in the stories. This makes it evident that this occurs in the dragons of Tarkir timeline 1-2 generations after the Khanfall.
Is anyone else finding this Bolas even scarier than Amonkhet Bolas? I mean, the damage he caused on Amonkhet was hideous and painful, but here he's practically a horror-movie villain, creeping in the shadows, playing inside the protagonists minds, and pervading the increasingly dark and sinister atmosphere rather than raining lightning and brimstone outright.
Oh, and this line, especially. The culmination:
"The laughter cracked as the woman's smile widened, curling back around her head, mouth splitting as if cut by a blade to expose her throat, lips peeling away to consume her head and then her shoulders and then she turned inside out in a grotesque distortion of birth."
Sauron and Voldemort only wish they could be this scary. The author seems to have taken a cue from J. K. Rowling, specifically with Voldemort's snake bursting out of an old lady's neck, but this was creepier times 10.
This would give Bolas is illusion of having finished Ugin off, but not really.
First of all, thanks Ugin buddy for telling Bolas about other planes even though you realized how terrible he was. Could have been Dominaria's problem and now he's after the whole multiverse. Great insight there (like yeah, as far as Ugin knew, Bolas might never have any way of reaching other worlds, but Ugin himself admitted that he basically knew nothing about the nature of planeswalking... so like...)
Also, I agree with everyone that the purpose of the Tarkir plot is a bit confusing. Yasova seems to think that whatever Ugin is trying to tell her is really really important ... so far it's been a lot of back story that is interesting to us but frankly useless to the people of Tarkir 1,000 years before he will be reborn. What is he putting all these poor people through this stress for?
And lastly, ah, did no one else find it notable that Ugin's first planeswalk was to the Meditation Plane? Like, did Bolas somehow steal the Meditation Plane from Ugin? Do Bolas and Ugin both naturally have a version of the Meditation Plane because they are twins? But we've decided Bolas isn't a natural-born walker anyway. Or, is the Meditation Plane not actually belong to Bolas and has some implications towards the cosmological nature of the multiverse? Or could Ugin and Bolas be in some sort of cahoots!? (I mean probably no, but given that Bolas likes to deceive people and wear disguises ... I don't know where I'm going with this. I just don't trust Ugin. That aloof lizard seems a bit too concerned with the cosmological importance of things and not really concerned with the well-being of individual lesser creatures)
Besides wasn't it some group of people who met there in spirit that Bolas took it from?
I looked again and it says this:
"He seeks in his mind for the spark that opens the way between worlds. In a wash of invisible, rippling flame, he shifts through a blind, disorienting darkness and, after a moment of stomach-churning unpleasantness, finds himself again floating above the still waters and their mysterious aura of meditative peace."
So the plane is separate from the "blind, disorienting darkness", which matches how every single other walker has described the Blind Eternities. So it's definitely its own place. And they dropped the "meditative" keyword. Sounds like the Meditation Plane to me.
Do you have more information on that? I'm not familiar with all the details of the older lore.
Uhh yes it was my first thought and reply on this thread.
Here is the passage from Story 4 : "
A scouring wind whirled down from inside and outside the heavens and dragged me into a terrifying storm of darkness where I could not even draw breath and felt my lungs being crushed by a weight of dread. A force twisted my body as if trying to turn me inside out. For an instant, my mind went blank, unseeing, unfeeling, and then with a wrench, I came back to myself.
To my astonishment, I found myself floating above a featureless sea, so flat and still I could see my own reflection in the water: my horns, my scales, my eyes like twin sparks burning bright. I drifted in bewilderment, rended by the grief of losing the brother I had trusted and stupefied by the sheer jarring astonishment of being torn from the only place I had never known and flung into the space between the planes.
For I understood then that Te Ju Ki had taught me the truth, that she had seen this place in a vision. She was physically frail, tied to the soil of her home, but her mind could range where her body and magic could not go.
She thought no one could cross between worlds, but now I was there, walking between the planes she had told me about.
With that thought like an anchor, I fell as a shooting star falls: helplessly, burning up, obliterated by its passage.
When I woke again in my body, I stood here, awake, afresh, alive, on Tarkir. And I felt the land welcome me, as if I had finally come home."
And from Story 6 : "The landscape is a silvery sheet of water as flat and reflective as a mirror extending to the horizon on all sides. Here and there rocky islands like spires rise from the endless sea, each creating a perfect resting place on which to meditate.
No wind stirs the air, yet glimmering, translucent globes float like bubbles caught in a breeze that touches nothing else.
One of these globes drifts close, and closer yet to the dreaming shadow of the girl asleep atop the waters. When its frail surface touches the edge of her misty form, it pops. The thin sphere of liquid spills memory into the shadow of her mind.
A dragon hovers over the still waters, staring into its reflection, a mirror which looks back on itself. The reflection is so complete in every detail that it might be the original dragon looking into a mirroring sea, and the dragon floating aloft might be its reflection, complete in every detail.
"What is this place?" the dragon says and, hearing his own voice, lashes his tail in surprise. But the lashing tail stirs no wind. The waters do not ripple. Only the reflection moves as the dragon answers itself.
"This must be one of the planes of which Te Ju Ki speaks. I have walked between worlds . . ."
The realization sparks a billow of shimmering, lightless flame that seems to enfold the dragon, and just like that it vanishes.
The water waits motionless, calm, and yet expectant, almost aware. Another globe spins up to the shadow of the sleeping girl, and pops.
The dragon falls in confusion, opening its wings at the last moment to settle atop a jagged peak. But this is not its smooth-sloped birth mountain presiding over a magnificent, rich landscape. This is a wild, stormy, rugged world only half born, called Tarkir"
Definately first walk to Meditation plane, THEN to Tarkir
To be fair, the story 4 excerpt above only describes a still sea and nothing else. Could be the Meditation plane, but also, could not be. The story 6 excerpt seems clear, to me, to be within the mind of Ugin, and the girl is experiencing Ugin's memories within Ugin's mind. His mind shares characteristics with the meditation plane, with the rocky outcroppings and such. But when the memory of the still sea is shared, it doesn't say anything about it being the same sea as the one the girl is resting near. Then it again describes Tarkir with another memory within Ugin's mind.
So I wouldn't say the still sea plane is definitely the meditation plane. It could be. But it's not definite. Nothing said 'that same, mirror-like surface.' The three things are separate in the narrative.
Truth be told, though, I don't know much about the meditation plane apart from art I've seen over the years and visits there in stories. I always thought Bolas created it. It doesn't seem a natural plane and he seems to have a degree of control over it. If that's the case, both could have created their own plane, or Ugin could have that 'realm' within his mind to help him meditate, Bolas saw it, and decided to make it real.
But yeah. There are similarities between the still sea plane and the meditation plane, but I'm not sold on them being the same. The still sea plane describes only the sea. The mind of Ugin specifically points out rocks to rest on. Maybe Ugin based his mind palace/mediation plane on that first plane.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/chronicle-bolas-perspectives-2018-08-08
-We get a version of the birth of Bolas to his first "fight" with Ugin but from his pov
-Bolas sure isn't hurting in self-esteem
-Sadly Bolas didn't steal his spark like I thought but instead his rage over Ugin being a planeswalker is what sparked him.
-Bolas explores the multiverse then goes looking for Ugin, finding the elder dragon war is over and the few elders we know survived.
-The ego on Bolas geez, staying his is the only walker when clearly Ugin was before.
-So the plane was indeed the Meditation Realm, Bolas finds Ugin there and Ugin attacks for Bolas who in self defense killed Ugin in the Meditation Realm and it somehow broke the plane. After this Bolas returns to Domiaria on an island called Madara.
Story felt shorter today tho could be because the first chuck is info we already know. I wonder if anything from Pov is true. He's lies a lot but some of his tale might had some seed of truth in it.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
JundBGR
RW Blood MoonRW
Pauper
Delver U
Elves G
Control B
Commander
Edgar Markov BRW
Captain Sisay GW
Niv-Mizzet, Parun UR
Tymna and Ravos WB
Furthermore, this story gives us almost nothing. We know we cannot trust Bolas' version of these events anyway, since so much of what we're reading is just his self-glorifying lies. Everything we learned about his later fights with Ugin and his clash with Ugin in the Meditation Realm would have come better from Ugin's perspective than from Bolas' waters-muddying monologue.
I get that the guy has "all the time in the worlds," but surely the Great and Glorious Bolas has better things to do than sit around chatting and justifying himself to a teenage girl?
It just feels out of character and incommensurate with what we know of Bolas's genius and power.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
Also, the Mediation realm was artificially created, according to the story. Did Ugin create it? Or did another planeswalker predate him and create it?
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||