So the trailer for War of the Spark is awesome, but I was trying to find a quick overview (a 'sparknotes' if you will) of how we got here. After reading the General Discussion thread and checking the Wiki, I couldn't seem to figure out quite whats going on, so I figured I'd make a post.
So here's a quick rundown of where we are (thats relevant) and how we got here, as far as I can tell:
Mending of Dominaria:
Prior this, planeswalkers were practically gods. Afterwards, they are not. Nicol Bolas is pissed about his downgrade in power, and is scheming to be more powerful.
Gatewatch exists, with the goal of protecting the multiverse-
Gideon, Jace, Nissa, Chandra, Liliana
Kaladesh:
Gatewatch gets requested here by Dovin Baan, and originally refuses, as his concerns are small. Ends up going as a result of it being Chandra's home and Tezzeret being involved.
There's an inventors fair, an uprising led by Chandra's mom, and plenty of other stuff. What matters is that a Planar Bridge is invented, allowing more than individuals to move through planes. Tezzeret steals it, working for Bolas (we know that, right?). Ajani joins the Gatewatch, and the Gatewatch decides to go after Bolas, heading to Amonkhet.
Amonkhet:
Bolas has warped the plane. Turns out, he's created an entire system to kill off the best warriors through a series of trials. They are to be reanimated as his Eternals (specially made to be able to survive travel through the Planar Bridge). He shows up, claims his army, and beats the Gatewatch. Showing up to the fight without a plan was a bad plan. Gatewatch is scattered, Jace's mind is wiped.
Ixalan: (whoops, originally mislabeled this plane)
Jace is here, and gets picked up by Vraska. Vraska is on a mission from Bolas to find something. They work together, become close, and end up finding the Eternal Sun, which is something that locks planeswalkers on a plane. Vraska helps Jace recover his memories, and they realize she's being played by Bolas (he offered to help her make the Golgari powerful), but fears she is screwed. She and Jace decide to play along, so Jace wipes her memories of him and she delivered the Eternal Sun to Bolas.
Dominaria:
Liliana, Chandra, Nissa, and Gideon arrive here. Nissa feels used that the Gatewatch is just killing demons to get Liliana out of her contract, leaves the Gatewatch and peaces out. The other 3 work together and with the Weatherlight crew and protect the plane, killing Lili's last demon. Turns out her contract defaults to Nicol Bolas (oops), and she has no choice but to leave with him. Teferi is restored as a planeswalker and joins up with the Gatewatch.
Ravnica:
There's plenty of chaos as the guildpact (Jace) has been absent. 5 Guilds, led by planeswalkers, are being manipulated behind the scenes by Bolas.
Vraska is working with him because the Golgari are downtrodden.
Dovin Baan found him from investigating Tezz, and he agreed to help him rise in the Azorius.
Kaya has taken over the Orzhov to free them from ghosts.
Ral Zarek is building something with the Izzet.
Domri is now in charge of the Gruul.
Summary:
Bolas has an undead army, a portal to move them, a way to trap planeswalkers, and control of Liliana who has to work for him.
Most of the remaining Gatewatch is together, with Jace the most informed off on his own.
Bolas has worked to prepare Ravnica for his next move.
What did I miss? What else do we need to know before the events of the War of the Spark?
I don't regularly read the story boards. I came to the board to figure out what happened. I was hoping there was something that made it clear. There wasn't. The current active thread doesn't really have an overview. The Wiki, which the pinned threads said to check, doesn't have an overview.
So I tried to create an overview. For two reasons: First, I assumed I can't be the only one excited by the new set trailer who wants a better idea of whats going on. And second, because despite my attempts to piece together the narrative, I still have huge gaps.
Still not sure what the storyline of whats happened on Ravnica is. I assume Domri's been elevated to cause chaos (hence the card being named "Chaos Bringer" but why Bolas has aided or how he has manipulated the other planeswalkers (excluding Vraska) is unclear. Is there anything that informed people know is important that I didn't mention?
I made a post because I wanted to know more as well as be helpful to others. If the only response to that is "Why are you telling us what everyone here already knows?" then the logical conclusion is that I am either unwelcome or don't belong here. Sorry for confusing you with an unnecessary post, I guess.
I like the rundown presented by the OP. I too would be curious to know if there is anything missed in the summary above. I don't read the story but it would be kind of nice to see a quick summary of all the salient points in the story that led us to the current "showdown". I am not sure why this wouldn't be welcome in this forum but, if not, I would ask that any mod that determines that it doesn't belong here moves it instead of locking it. I have been watching this thread to see if there are any updates/corrections/additions to the summary above.
If you want events listed chronologically in-universe, you should include Liliana's contract taking place, which should be right after Nicol Bolas sets up Amonkhet as a zombie factory, which happens (apparently) immediately after the Mending. Including the first three demons on the contract hitlist may be helpful.
1) Bolas and Ugin throw down on Tarkir. Ugin and Azor had planned on trapping Bolas on Ixalan because he was too dangerous. Azor puts his spark in the Immortal Sun to create the trap. Bolas figures it out, though, and kills Ugin (until Sarkhan saves him). Bolas top dog.
2) Bolas is kind of/sort of kkilled, Teferi and friends restore him to life on Dominaria when trying to seal rifts. Oops.
3) Mending: Bolas books it from Dominaria because he knows what will result once the Mending is complete. Leaves Teferi and friends to save the Multiverse.
4) Bolas arrives on Amonkhet as his power begins to wane, taking away his godlike powers. He wipes out the adults of the plane, kills three of the gods, wipes everyone's memory, and creates a plane dedicated to creating his army. Somehow in his greatest fearful moment he has the foresight to do this (unless he already had a vague plan to do it anyway).
5) At some point, Bolas encounters an old, aged Liliana, and brokers deals for her with four demons to give her youth and power once more. Unbeknownst to her, the contract defaults to him if all the demons are dead.
6) Jace, Liliana, and Tezzeret have a history, including Chandra. Broad strokes is, Jace likes Liliana, Liliana likes using him, and Tezz and Jace hate each other. Jace tracks Chandra to Zendikar (I forgot how), where Sarkhan has been placed by Bolas. They fight, and Jace and Chandra create an invisible flame that unlocks the Eldrazi on Zendikar. Bolas may have wanted this? Eldrazi previously sealed up by Ugin, Nahiri, and Sorin.
7) Sorin tries to seal Eldrazi away again, but Nahiri isn't around because he trapped her in the helvault. Nissa is there, but she doesn't do what she's supposed to, so the Eldrazi are free.
8) Gideon is hanging out on Ravnica, encounters Jace, Liliana, Chandra. I forget how or when they meet Nissa. But after Jace becomes the Guildpact, they decide to try to stop the Eldrazi.
9) Sarkhan wakes Ugin from his cocoon?
10) The Gatewatch go to Zendikar and beat the Eldrazi. Gideon, Nissa, Jace, Liliana, Chandra. Kiora and Ob Nixilis are there, and Nix kicks the devil out of the Gatewatch before leaving after regaining his spark. Before Gatewatch showed up, Nahiri saw Zendikar being destroyed and decided to draw Emrakul to Innistrad.
11) Some (all?) Gatewatch go to Innistrad, Sorin and Nahiri fight, Emrakul gets sealed into the silver moon and Sorin is trapped in a wall by Nahiri. Nahiri peaces.
12) Gatewatch chilling on Ravnica when Dovin asks them to go to Kaladesh. Ajani is there. There they face Tezzeret and friends, and meanwhile a planar bridge is built. Tezzeret gets away with the planar bridge.
13) Ajani warns Gatewatch not to mess with Bolas until they get a huge group of walkers. Gatewatch blows him off, go to Amonkhet, encounter Bolas' plans and plane, and get their asses kicked. Jace blindwalks to Ixalan, where he's trapped, and the rest make it to Dominaria.
14) Jace encounters Vraska, and, working together, they find Azor and the Immortal Sun and discover its purpose. They decide to mess with Bolas by hiding Vraska's memories, and Tezz pulls the Immortal Sun off the plane by way of the planar bridge.
15) On Dominaria, Nissa and Chandra peace, but Chandra returns with old Jaya. Teferi gets his spark back, Karn is trying to find the cylex, Gideon takes up the Blackblade that killed an elder dragon, and the good guys kill Liliana's last demon. Jace shows up at some point, warns everyone about Liliana and Bolas, and then takes off. The other walkers leave the plane, Liliana is last. Bolas shows up, tells her she's his now, and they leave.
First, thanks for the added info. I appreciate the assistance.
Regarding events prior to Dovin Baan requesting the Gatewatch to Kaladesh: I didn't include them except where we ran into them because it fault like part of a whole separate storyline. Judging by Maro's article talking about this storyline as a 3 year arc, I feel like that's probably a good delineation. Is there any evidence that Ugin or the Sorin/Nahiri Eldrazi conflict will be particularly relevant to the War?
The Blackblade has killed an Elder Dragon? Didn't know that. Gideon acquiring that on Dominaria would seem to be rather important then.
Regarding Events on Ravnica and the planeswalkers Bolas has manipulated, here's what I'm seeing as Bolas's handiwork
Vraska: Fetched the Immortal Sun, and killed Isperia destabilizing Azorius
Dovin: Ascended to void created by Vraska in Azorius, not sure what he's doing with that?
Kaya: Upended power structure of Orzhov, increased tithe's to the point of destabilizing society
Domri: Determined to bring the "End-Raze", basically, actively causing chaos and marauding through further disrupting society
Ral: Manipulated previously existing tech (Project Lightning Bug - something he created for Niv about planeswalkers for Dragons Maze storyline stuff) to create a Beacon to planeswalkers.
So Chaos and a Planeswalker beacon, with none of the planeswalker guildmasters loyal to Bolas, although they may have done work for him.
First, thanks for the added info. I appreciate the assistance.
Regarding events prior to Dovin Baan requesting the Gatewatch to Kaladesh: I didn't include them except where we ran into them because it fault like part of a whole separate storyline. Judging by Maro's article talking about this storyline as a 3 year arc, I feel like that's probably a good delineation. Is there any evidence that Ugin or the Sorin/Nahiri Eldrazi conflict will be particularly relevant to the War?
The Blackblade has killed an Elder Dragon? Didn't know that. Gideon acquiring that on Dominaria would seem to be rather important then.
Regarding Events on Ravnica and the planeswalkers Bolas has manipulated, here's what I'm seeing as Bolas's handiwork
Vraska: Fetched the Immortal Sun, and killed Isperia destabilizing Azorius
Dovin: Ascended to void created by Vraska in Azorius, not sure what he's doing with that?
Kaya: Upended power structure of Orzhov, increased tithe's to the point of destabilizing society
Domri: Determined to bring the "End-Raze", basically, actively causing chaos and marauding through further disrupting society
Ral: Manipulated previously existing tech (Project Lightning Bug - something he created for Niv about planeswalkers for Dragons Maze storyline stuff) to create a Beacon to planeswalkers.
So Chaos and a Planeswalker beacon, with none of the planeswalker guildmasters loyal to Bolas, although they may have done work for him.
I think.
It's hard for me to edit quotes on my phone, so I apologize that I can't selectively quote and then provide direct responses.
I think this is the climax of the Bolas arc, which to me started with the Elder Dragons. We had that set last summer, where Ugin and Bolas are twins, and Ugin sees the darkness in Bolas and Ugin becomes the first of them to planeswalk. That set the stage for Ugin to eventually work with Azor to trap Bolas on Ixalan. Ixalan might have given us this info recently, but the history stretches far back.
Why do I feel this background is important? It showed us that Bolas is capable of feeling betrayed, but will also betray. He is very powerful, but may have an aggrandized view of himself. Ugin is more or less his equal, and Bolas hates him for that. And also hates him for laying the trap.
Why is the trap important? The Immortal Sun was made after the Guildpact. Bolas was supposed to be drawn to Ixalan, but instead he kills Ugin on Tarkir. In the main timeline, Ugin dies, dragons die off, Sarkhan is born. Bolas is King of the Hill. But Bolas learns of the Immortal Sun, even though no walker can get off Ixalan. He then has an idea who made it. Which means destroying Ravnica and the Guildpact will be sweet justice against Azor, who conspired against him.
While Ugin is 'dead,' Nahiri is sealed into the Helvault by Sorin because she raged out that no one came to her aid on Zendikar. Sorin is alone (but for Nissa) and fails to seal back the Eldrazi after Jace, Chandra, and Sarkhan unlock the prison. Sarkhan was sent to Zendikar by Bolas, I believe, whom he worshipped. It's around then that Sarkhan starts hearing voices, which will lead him back to Tarkir.
Why is this important for War of the Spark? Nahiri almost succeeded in destroying Innistrad in vengeance for what happened to Zendikar. She almost killed Sorin. Since Bolas was the architect of their release, and Nahiri and Sorin are being pulled to Ravnica, there may be a point where she realizes Bolas is the true cause of her pain. Meanwhile, Ob Nixilis has an ax to grind too, due to Zendikar, and he's on Ravnica as well. Nissa, too, as a native of Zendikar, has a beef with Bolas then.
Sarkhan then timewalks back to when Ugin fell, and keeps him from dying via cocoon for a thousand or so years. Then in the present day, Ugin hatches. He's back. Why is this important to War of the Spark? As far as I know, Bolas has no idea Ugin is still alive. Ugin is like Bolas' greatest nemesis. Bolas sees Ugin as the architect of all *his* suffering, so when Ugin shows up on Ravnica, it's going to be a Big Thing, I suspect.
Then we all know the Mending, and that's where Bolas loses his god powers. Immediately he set to work on regaining it, apparently knowing he'd need an army, a planar bridge, and the Immortal Sun. After the Mending, the walkers who will become the Gatewatch get together, eventually. So while the Gatewatch are learning about each other and going on adventures, Bolas is pulling strings to get everything to where he needs it to be.
So to me, this Bolas arc goes back to the time of the Elder Dragons. He's the reason for a lot of the suffering of the known walkers (Tezzeret, Liliana, Jace, Chandra, Gideon, Nahiri, Sorin, Nissa, Ugin, Sarkhan, on and on). Their stories can't easily be separated from his arc.
As for the Blackblade, it was created by Dakkon over the course of years, a long time ago. He sacrificed people into its forging, stabbing his own son, drawing countless souls into it to make it stronger and stronger. He fought an Elder Dragon, Piru, and slew her with it, drawing in her soul and power. It's a powerful weapon kept in the vault of the Cabal on Dominaria, and it either corrupts or hurts the bearer. Gideon picked it up during the Dominaria block.
As for the Bolas Five, I think they're in position to just wreak havoc across the plane so that the guilds can't unite. They may not know how fully they're being manipulated or used, though Vraska at least knows for sure. What Bolas doesn't know is that Ugin is alive (I'm pretty sure) and that Vraska has sealed-off memories that will turn her against him.
Where is the actual canon on what happened in GRN and RNA? The website stories are side pieces, and the cards only offer glimpses of key points. This has been driving me mad.
Where is the actual canon on what happened in GRN and RNA? The website stories are side pieces, and the cards only offer glimpses of key points. This has been driving me mad.
All info currently know is from the art book and players guides.
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From the core19 stories I remember reading that as ugin planewalks away from bolas on dominaria (the 2nd time?) it's what ignites bolas' spark, which he then follows ugin and kills him. There really isnt an opening for ugin to get with azor and create the immortal sun between bolas' spark and ugins death. Unless he does that after sorin awakens him?
From the core19 stories I remember reading that as ugin planewalks away from bolas on dominaria (the 2nd time?) it's what ignites bolas' spark, which he then follows ugin and kills him. There really isnt an opening for ugin to get with azor and create the immortal sun between bolas' spark and ugins death. Unless he does that after sorin awakens him?
According to the wiki, which has a footnote: "An unknown amount of time later, Ugin awakened, his spirit inhabiting a new body formed from the Meditation Realm's waters. The newly reborn Spirit Dragon had found his purpose - to stand against his brother, whose hatred would destroy entire planes if left unchecked."
Ugin and Azor hatched their plot a thousand or so years ago, because that's when Bolas threw down Ugin on Tarkir. Ugin was only reawakened in Dragons of Tarkir, which is a handful of years ago, such that Jace and Ugin talk during Battle for Zendikar. So when Ugin is struck down on the Meditation Plane, that had to have happened a while before Ugin and Azor made the Immortal Sun, which was more than a thousand years ago.
I think it’s important to add that Bolas released the Eldrazi Titans because he wanted to see if a group of superfriends planeswalkers(the gatewatch) would rise up to meet the threat. He studied the gatewatch and planned to have them attack him on Ravnica.
Also, I wouldn’t say that Vraska helped Jace get his memories back. Jace fell down a waterfall and hit his head and his memories came pouring back. It was also alluded that there may be a future romance between Jace and Vrasa which may be important to the current story.
In Dominaria Chandra peaced out for a while to train before joining Lily and Gideon. During this time Lily and Gideo bonded a lot, and from the trailer it seems like that plays an important role in the story.
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While the gist is there, some of the elements are way off as far as timing.
Pre-history some 20,000+ years ago, Ugin and Bolas are born on Dominaria, spend centuries learning from their brothers and sister what it is to be a dragon. Ugin focuses on learning, Bolas on power. Years pass as they are separated, meet up on the mountain they were born on, end up fighting and Ugin planeswalks for the first time (possible first Planeswalker)
Centuries later- Ugin retuns to Dominaria, finds that Bolas and Arcades are at war, they fight again, Bolas’ spark ignites.
Between then and 10,000 years ago- Ugin and Bolas travel the multiverse, doing different things, Ugin building, meeting Azor, others, Bolas tearing down. Ugin and Azor come up with a plan to trap Bolas on Ixalan
10,000 years ago- The Brothers War between Urza and Mishra erupts on Dominaria. Lots of stuff happens, including opening the portal to the original Pherxian plane, Yaggmouth is discovered. Urzas spark ignites.
> 10,000 years Bolas discovers Ugin and Azors plot, goes to Tarkir and kills Ugin, Azor is trapped on Ixalan having given up his spark in the Immortal Sun. Also during this time Ugin, Sorrin and Nahari imprison the Eldrazi on Zenedark
10,000-70 years ago- Urza’s fight with the Pherxians and his experimentations take place, leads up to creating Tolerian Academy, Karn and the Weatherlight and the Pherixan invasion of Dominaria. Urza dies, the overlay of Rath onto Dominaria plus the temporal anomalies around Toleria causes the fabric of the Multiverse to fray.
60 years ago- The Mending. Teferi and others fix the Multiverse at a great cost. Teferi sacrifices his spark to close rifts while loseing Jamuraa and Shiv to his phasing spell. Kaladesh experiences the Aetherboom. Bolas goes to Amhenkhet and Alara, putting his plan into motion.
Where is the actual canon on what happened in GRN and RNA? The website stories are side pieces, and the cards only offer glimpses of key points. This has been driving me mad.
All info currently know is from the art book and players guides.
Thank you! Weird that that's all we have for now - I didn't think the novel would get into any of this background, but maybe it does. I had been thinking it would just start with war of the spark.
While the gist is there, some of the elements are way off as far as timing.
You link us to a timeline, which has Year Zero of our reckoning be the birth of Urza and Mishra, and then the timeline says that was 4,000+ years ago, but then you also say Urza's been around for 10,000 years? And that he was fighting Phyrexians until 70 years ago? Even though he died 200 years before the Mending, which was 60ish years ago?
Were you just giving examples of what would be 'way off' timing, instead of examples of good timing?
The link you posted is definitely a good resource, but I have to question if you really looked at it.
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So here's a quick rundown of where we are (thats relevant) and how we got here, as far as I can tell:
Mending of Dominaria:
Prior this, planeswalkers were practically gods. Afterwards, they are not. Nicol Bolas is pissed about his downgrade in power, and is scheming to be more powerful.
Gatewatch exists, with the goal of protecting the multiverse-
Gideon, Jace, Nissa, Chandra, Liliana
Kaladesh:
Gatewatch gets requested here by Dovin Baan, and originally refuses, as his concerns are small. Ends up going as a result of it being Chandra's home and Tezzeret being involved.
There's an inventors fair, an uprising led by Chandra's mom, and plenty of other stuff. What matters is that a Planar Bridge is invented, allowing more than individuals to move through planes. Tezzeret steals it, working for Bolas (we know that, right?). Ajani joins the Gatewatch, and the Gatewatch decides to go after Bolas, heading to Amonkhet.
Amonkhet:
Bolas has warped the plane. Turns out, he's created an entire system to kill off the best warriors through a series of trials. They are to be reanimated as his Eternals (specially made to be able to survive travel through the Planar Bridge). He shows up, claims his army, and beats the Gatewatch. Showing up to the fight without a plan was a bad plan. Gatewatch is scattered, Jace's mind is wiped.
Ixalan: (whoops, originally mislabeled this plane)
Jace is here, and gets picked up by Vraska. Vraska is on a mission from Bolas to find something. They work together, become close, and end up finding the Eternal Sun, which is something that locks planeswalkers on a plane. Vraska helps Jace recover his memories, and they realize she's being played by Bolas (he offered to help her make the Golgari powerful), but fears she is screwed. She and Jace decide to play along, so Jace wipes her memories of him and she delivered the Eternal Sun to Bolas.
Dominaria:
Liliana, Chandra, Nissa, and Gideon arrive here. Nissa feels used that the Gatewatch is just killing demons to get Liliana out of her contract, leaves the Gatewatch and peaces out. The other 3 work together and with the Weatherlight crew and protect the plane, killing Lili's last demon. Turns out her contract defaults to Nicol Bolas (oops), and she has no choice but to leave with him. Teferi is restored as a planeswalker and joins up with the Gatewatch.
Ravnica:
There's plenty of chaos as the guildpact (Jace) has been absent. 5 Guilds, led by planeswalkers, are being manipulated behind the scenes by Bolas.
Vraska is working with him because the Golgari are downtrodden.
Dovin Baan found him from investigating Tezz, and he agreed to help him rise in the Azorius.
Kaya has taken over the Orzhov to free them from ghosts.
Ral Zarek is building something with the Izzet.
Domri is now in charge of the Gruul.
Summary:
Bolas has an undead army, a portal to move them, a way to trap planeswalkers, and control of Liliana who has to work for him.
Most of the remaining Gatewatch is together, with Jace the most informed off on his own.
Bolas has worked to prepare Ravnica for his next move.
What did I miss? What else do we need to know before the events of the War of the Spark?
Art student, EDH lover and a strong believer that Delver has the best design in all of MTG.
So I tried to create an overview. For two reasons: First, I assumed I can't be the only one excited by the new set trailer who wants a better idea of whats going on. And second, because despite my attempts to piece together the narrative, I still have huge gaps.
Still not sure what the storyline of whats happened on Ravnica is. I assume Domri's been elevated to cause chaos (hence the card being named "Chaos Bringer" but why Bolas has aided or how he has manipulated the other planeswalkers (excluding Vraska) is unclear. Is there anything that informed people know is important that I didn't mention?
I made a post because I wanted to know more as well as be helpful to others. If the only response to that is "Why are you telling us what everyone here already knows?" then the logical conclusion is that I am either unwelcome or don't belong here. Sorry for confusing you with an unnecessary post, I guess.
1) Bolas and Ugin throw down on Tarkir. Ugin and Azor had planned on trapping Bolas on Ixalan because he was too dangerous. Azor puts his spark in the Immortal Sun to create the trap. Bolas figures it out, though, and kills Ugin (until Sarkhan saves him). Bolas top dog.
2) Bolas is kind of/sort of kkilled, Teferi and friends restore him to life on Dominaria when trying to seal rifts. Oops.
3) Mending: Bolas books it from Dominaria because he knows what will result once the Mending is complete. Leaves Teferi and friends to save the Multiverse.
4) Bolas arrives on Amonkhet as his power begins to wane, taking away his godlike powers. He wipes out the adults of the plane, kills three of the gods, wipes everyone's memory, and creates a plane dedicated to creating his army. Somehow in his greatest fearful moment he has the foresight to do this (unless he already had a vague plan to do it anyway).
5) At some point, Bolas encounters an old, aged Liliana, and brokers deals for her with four demons to give her youth and power once more. Unbeknownst to her, the contract defaults to him if all the demons are dead.
6) Jace, Liliana, and Tezzeret have a history, including Chandra. Broad strokes is, Jace likes Liliana, Liliana likes using him, and Tezz and Jace hate each other. Jace tracks Chandra to Zendikar (I forgot how), where Sarkhan has been placed by Bolas. They fight, and Jace and Chandra create an invisible flame that unlocks the Eldrazi on Zendikar. Bolas may have wanted this? Eldrazi previously sealed up by Ugin, Nahiri, and Sorin.
7) Sorin tries to seal Eldrazi away again, but Nahiri isn't around because he trapped her in the helvault. Nissa is there, but she doesn't do what she's supposed to, so the Eldrazi are free.
8) Gideon is hanging out on Ravnica, encounters Jace, Liliana, Chandra. I forget how or when they meet Nissa. But after Jace becomes the Guildpact, they decide to try to stop the Eldrazi.
9) Sarkhan wakes Ugin from his cocoon?
10) The Gatewatch go to Zendikar and beat the Eldrazi. Gideon, Nissa, Jace, Liliana, Chandra. Kiora and Ob Nixilis are there, and Nix kicks the devil out of the Gatewatch before leaving after regaining his spark. Before Gatewatch showed up, Nahiri saw Zendikar being destroyed and decided to draw Emrakul to Innistrad.
11) Some (all?) Gatewatch go to Innistrad, Sorin and Nahiri fight, Emrakul gets sealed into the silver moon and Sorin is trapped in a wall by Nahiri. Nahiri peaces.
12) Gatewatch chilling on Ravnica when Dovin asks them to go to Kaladesh. Ajani is there. There they face Tezzeret and friends, and meanwhile a planar bridge is built. Tezzeret gets away with the planar bridge.
13) Ajani warns Gatewatch not to mess with Bolas until they get a huge group of walkers. Gatewatch blows him off, go to Amonkhet, encounter Bolas' plans and plane, and get their asses kicked. Jace blindwalks to Ixalan, where he's trapped, and the rest make it to Dominaria.
14) Jace encounters Vraska, and, working together, they find Azor and the Immortal Sun and discover its purpose. They decide to mess with Bolas by hiding Vraska's memories, and Tezz pulls the Immortal Sun off the plane by way of the planar bridge.
15) On Dominaria, Nissa and Chandra peace, but Chandra returns with old Jaya. Teferi gets his spark back, Karn is trying to find the cylex, Gideon takes up the Blackblade that killed an elder dragon, and the good guys kill Liliana's last demon. Jace shows up at some point, warns everyone about Liliana and Bolas, and then takes off. The other walkers leave the plane, Liliana is last. Bolas shows up, tells her she's his now, and they leave.
16) Ravnica guilds start falling apart.
Regarding events prior to Dovin Baan requesting the Gatewatch to Kaladesh: I didn't include them except where we ran into them because it fault like part of a whole separate storyline. Judging by Maro's article talking about this storyline as a 3 year arc, I feel like that's probably a good delineation. Is there any evidence that Ugin or the Sorin/Nahiri Eldrazi conflict will be particularly relevant to the War?
The Blackblade has killed an Elder Dragon? Didn't know that. Gideon acquiring that on Dominaria would seem to be rather important then.
Regarding Events on Ravnica and the planeswalkers Bolas has manipulated, here's what I'm seeing as Bolas's handiwork
Vraska: Fetched the Immortal Sun, and killed Isperia destabilizing Azorius
Dovin: Ascended to void created by Vraska in Azorius, not sure what he's doing with that?
Kaya: Upended power structure of Orzhov, increased tithe's to the point of destabilizing society
Domri: Determined to bring the "End-Raze", basically, actively causing chaos and marauding through further disrupting society
Ral: Manipulated previously existing tech (Project Lightning Bug - something he created for Niv about planeswalkers for Dragons Maze storyline stuff) to create a Beacon to planeswalkers.
So Chaos and a Planeswalker beacon, with none of the planeswalker guildmasters loyal to Bolas, although they may have done work for him.
I think.
It's hard for me to edit quotes on my phone, so I apologize that I can't selectively quote and then provide direct responses.
I think this is the climax of the Bolas arc, which to me started with the Elder Dragons. We had that set last summer, where Ugin and Bolas are twins, and Ugin sees the darkness in Bolas and Ugin becomes the first of them to planeswalk. That set the stage for Ugin to eventually work with Azor to trap Bolas on Ixalan. Ixalan might have given us this info recently, but the history stretches far back.
Why do I feel this background is important? It showed us that Bolas is capable of feeling betrayed, but will also betray. He is very powerful, but may have an aggrandized view of himself. Ugin is more or less his equal, and Bolas hates him for that. And also hates him for laying the trap.
Why is the trap important? The Immortal Sun was made after the Guildpact. Bolas was supposed to be drawn to Ixalan, but instead he kills Ugin on Tarkir. In the main timeline, Ugin dies, dragons die off, Sarkhan is born. Bolas is King of the Hill. But Bolas learns of the Immortal Sun, even though no walker can get off Ixalan. He then has an idea who made it. Which means destroying Ravnica and the Guildpact will be sweet justice against Azor, who conspired against him.
While Ugin is 'dead,' Nahiri is sealed into the Helvault by Sorin because she raged out that no one came to her aid on Zendikar. Sorin is alone (but for Nissa) and fails to seal back the Eldrazi after Jace, Chandra, and Sarkhan unlock the prison. Sarkhan was sent to Zendikar by Bolas, I believe, whom he worshipped. It's around then that Sarkhan starts hearing voices, which will lead him back to Tarkir.
Why is this important for War of the Spark? Nahiri almost succeeded in destroying Innistrad in vengeance for what happened to Zendikar. She almost killed Sorin. Since Bolas was the architect of their release, and Nahiri and Sorin are being pulled to Ravnica, there may be a point where she realizes Bolas is the true cause of her pain. Meanwhile, Ob Nixilis has an ax to grind too, due to Zendikar, and he's on Ravnica as well. Nissa, too, as a native of Zendikar, has a beef with Bolas then.
Sarkhan then timewalks back to when Ugin fell, and keeps him from dying via cocoon for a thousand or so years. Then in the present day, Ugin hatches. He's back. Why is this important to War of the Spark? As far as I know, Bolas has no idea Ugin is still alive. Ugin is like Bolas' greatest nemesis. Bolas sees Ugin as the architect of all *his* suffering, so when Ugin shows up on Ravnica, it's going to be a Big Thing, I suspect.
Then we all know the Mending, and that's where Bolas loses his god powers. Immediately he set to work on regaining it, apparently knowing he'd need an army, a planar bridge, and the Immortal Sun. After the Mending, the walkers who will become the Gatewatch get together, eventually. So while the Gatewatch are learning about each other and going on adventures, Bolas is pulling strings to get everything to where he needs it to be.
So to me, this Bolas arc goes back to the time of the Elder Dragons. He's the reason for a lot of the suffering of the known walkers (Tezzeret, Liliana, Jace, Chandra, Gideon, Nahiri, Sorin, Nissa, Ugin, Sarkhan, on and on). Their stories can't easily be separated from his arc.
As for the Blackblade, it was created by Dakkon over the course of years, a long time ago. He sacrificed people into its forging, stabbing his own son, drawing countless souls into it to make it stronger and stronger. He fought an Elder Dragon, Piru, and slew her with it, drawing in her soul and power. It's a powerful weapon kept in the vault of the Cabal on Dominaria, and it either corrupts or hurts the bearer. Gideon picked it up during the Dominaria block.
As for the Bolas Five, I think they're in position to just wreak havoc across the plane so that the guilds can't unite. They may not know how fully they're being manipulated or used, though Vraska at least knows for sure. What Bolas doesn't know is that Ugin is alive (I'm pretty sure) and that Vraska has sealed-off memories that will turn her against him.
Best laid plans of mice and Bolas.
All info currently know is from the art book and players guides.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
According to the wiki, which has a footnote: "An unknown amount of time later, Ugin awakened, his spirit inhabiting a new body formed from the Meditation Realm's waters. The newly reborn Spirit Dragon had found his purpose - to stand against his brother, whose hatred would destroy entire planes if left unchecked."
Ugin and Azor hatched their plot a thousand or so years ago, because that's when Bolas threw down Ugin on Tarkir. Ugin was only reawakened in Dragons of Tarkir, which is a handful of years ago, such that Jace and Ugin talk during Battle for Zendikar. So when Ugin is struck down on the Meditation Plane, that had to have happened a while before Ugin and Azor made the Immortal Sun, which was more than a thousand years ago.
Also, I wouldn’t say that Vraska helped Jace get his memories back. Jace fell down a waterfall and hit his head and his memories came pouring back. It was also alluded that there may be a future romance between Jace and Vrasa which may be important to the current story.
In Dominaria Chandra peaced out for a while to train before joining Lily and Gideon. During this time Lily and Gideo bonded a lot, and from the trailer it seems like that plays an important role in the story.
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
Pre-history some 20,000+ years ago, Ugin and Bolas are born on Dominaria, spend centuries learning from their brothers and sister what it is to be a dragon. Ugin focuses on learning, Bolas on power. Years pass as they are separated, meet up on the mountain they were born on, end up fighting and Ugin planeswalks for the first time (possible first Planeswalker)
Centuries later- Ugin retuns to Dominaria, finds that Bolas and Arcades are at war, they fight again, Bolas’ spark ignites.
Between then and 10,000 years ago- Ugin and Bolas travel the multiverse, doing different things, Ugin building, meeting Azor, others, Bolas tearing down. Ugin and Azor come up with a plan to trap Bolas on Ixalan
10,000 years ago- The Brothers War between Urza and Mishra erupts on Dominaria. Lots of stuff happens, including opening the portal to the original Pherxian plane, Yaggmouth is discovered. Urzas spark ignites.
> 10,000 years Bolas discovers Ugin and Azors plot, goes to Tarkir and kills Ugin, Azor is trapped on Ixalan having given up his spark in the Immortal Sun. Also during this time Ugin, Sorrin and Nahari imprison the Eldrazi on Zenedark
10,000-70 years ago- Urza’s fight with the Pherxians and his experimentations take place, leads up to creating Tolerian Academy, Karn and the Weatherlight and the Pherixan invasion of Dominaria. Urza dies, the overlay of Rath onto Dominaria plus the temporal anomalies around Toleria causes the fabric of the Multiverse to fray.
60 years ago- The Mending. Teferi and others fix the Multiverse at a great cost. Teferi sacrifices his spark to close rifts while loseing Jamuraa and Shiv to his phasing spell. Kaladesh experiences the Aetherboom. Bolas goes to Amhenkhet and Alara, putting his plan into motion.
Here....read this
https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Timeline
Thank you! Weird that that's all we have for now - I didn't think the novel would get into any of this background, but maybe it does. I had been thinking it would just start with war of the spark.
You link us to a timeline, which has Year Zero of our reckoning be the birth of Urza and Mishra, and then the timeline says that was 4,000+ years ago, but then you also say Urza's been around for 10,000 years? And that he was fighting Phyrexians until 70 years ago? Even though he died 200 years before the Mending, which was 60ish years ago?
Were you just giving examples of what would be 'way off' timing, instead of examples of good timing?
The link you posted is definitely a good resource, but I have to question if you really looked at it.