So... I posted this in the Speculation subforum of the Rumor Mill in response to someone else's idea that Phyrexians are causing the problems on Innistrad.
This is... interesting.
The concept that the Phyrexians are coming to Innistrad is certainly a dark horse.
But 'Great Work' is very specific... there are any number of other terms that could have been used. Like, uh, 'Grand Inquisition'.
And if Avacyn has been hearing the voices of Phyrexians, that explains why she now thinks being born is a mistake. 'The seeds of men are rotten' is a fairly good expression of Phyrexian 'ideals'.
'Are you pure?' Again, very Phyrexian.
'Of course you are not pure. How could you be? You were born.' Uh, this could be said by any of the Praetors and make sense.
Hearing a single voice that resonates and 'makes sense' is a good approximation of Madness in general, but it is also fairly Phrexian.
Then there's the Cryptoliths. This is more speculative, but going all the way to back to Yawgmoth, the only way that Phyrexians can Plane-hop is through portals. That might be the cryptoliths' purpose, and the implication there would be that Nahiri in her journey to find Sorin and Ugin ran afoul of the Phyrexians. (Sorin might actually know this.)
And the final piece... Thraben Inspector is looking at something that could be Emrakul's latticework, but... what if it's mycosynth?
And then I thought of something else. The theory is that Innistrad's moon is made of silver. Well. We do know that Karn was infected and he did PW all over the place. Maybe he made Innistrad's moon and it's infected?
The problem with the Phyrexian as the threat is that it removes the "Moon is strange" part of everything, and Phyrexian's can't really be connected to what is in the Moon as the height of their power was during Sorin's lifetime. Would ruin the "Mystery" if Sorin knew what was up the entire time.
Except for, you know, having absolutely nothing to do with how Phyrexia works.
This has already been addressed multiple times with countless arguments, but perhaps the most solid is that, instead of going all Elesh Norn, Avacyn is doing the exact opposite of Phyrexia: mass murder instead of assimilation. And she's now Red, the least phyrexian of all colours.
One of the spoiled cards did say Nahiri wanted Sorin to experience what it felt like to have his world destroyed like her's was by the Eldrazi. And she's an old walker so its possible she's seen or at least know about the phyrexians, so it not hard to imagine that she would bring the oil to Innistrad to "get back at" Sorin for not going to Innistrad
Does Phyrexian Oil affect non-living things like non-sentient machines? Cause as far as I know the moon is made of silver, but it is not alive.
Second, how does Avacyn contract the Oil? She suddenly is affected by voices after seeing a vision of hedrons. Can one be infected via a psychic link without coming into contact with oil?
Third, wouldn't Avacyn attempt to upgrade herself with machines to become "perfect". The point of the Phyrexians isn't to perfect everything with genocide, it is to assimilate and become more machine-like.
One of the spoiled cards did say Nahiri wanted Sorin to experience what it felt like to have his world destroyed like her's was by the Eldrazi. And she's an old walker so its possible she's seen or at least know about the phyrexians, so it not hard to imagine that she would bring the oil to Innistrad to "get back at" Sorin for not going to Innistrad
Does Phyrexian Oil affect non-living things like non-sentient machines? Cause as far as I know the moon is made of silver, but it is not alive.
Second, how does Avacyn contract the Oil? She suddenly is affected by voices after seeing a vision of hedrons. Can one be infected via a psychic link without coming into contact with oil?
Third, wouldn't Avacyn attempt to upgrade herself with machines to become "perfect". The point of the Phyrexians isn't to perfect everything with genocide, it is to assimilate and become more machine-like.
Need to read old works, but it's shown in SOM that the oil does corrode and corrupt metal, often adding organic components to it.
No, in no work seen so far does the oil act psychically. You need to contract it physically, which is yet anothe rpoint against Phyrexia being repsonsible
Just playing devil's advocate, but does Avacyn have a relationship of some kind with the moon? Because Phyrexian corruption of the moon could cause her wires to cross then. And if the oil was on the moon, it could spread over the entire surface.
Still, I think it's more likely we'll see some sort of harvest moon eclipse explaining it. But I doubt it will be the only thing we'll face on Innistrad, especially with the sea-God cult and Lovecraft theme.
The problem with the Phyrexian as the threat is that it removes the "Moon is strange" part of everything, and Phyrexian's can't really be connected to what is in the Moon as the height of their power was during Sorin's lifetime. Would ruin the "Mystery" if Sorin knew what was up the entire time.
What if Nahiri got a drop of Phyrexian Oil on the moon? The Oil would corrupt it completely.
And then what? unless there were something sealed in the moon previously it would just make..a giant fleshy moon. Which means there would have to have been something in it to Compleate and I imagine anything that is in that Moon should be old and powerful enough to Ignore the oil, and be enough of a threat itself to not need it.
Just playing devil's advocate, but does Avacyn have a relationship of some kind with the moon? Because Phyrexian corruption of the moon could cause her wires to cross then. And if the oil was on the moon, it could spread over the entire surface.
Still, I think it's more likely we'll see some sort of harvest moon eclipse explaining it. But I doubt it will be the only thing we'll face on Innistrad, especially with the sea-God cult and Lovecraft theme.
Again, the oil doesn't have known psychic powers. Alaso, Avacyn is connected to the Moon, but she isnt the Moon.
I am convinced the Phyrexians only faked the moon landing.
But seriously, I think that all theories about anything going on with the actual physical mass of the moon are jumping at conclusions. Yes, there's something moon-related going on, obviously, but that has always been the case for Innistrad. I think it's more metaphysical than literal using the moon as a macguffin of any sort.
There have been several good arguments against Phyrexia here and neither me, nor anyone else, seem to be able to provide any decent rebuttals. However, it's still as plausible as Emrakul, Marit Lage, Nicol Bolas, Tibalt or Son of the Chicken from the Outer Space. I'm still betting on Nicol Bolas using Nahiri to create a portal for Phyrexians while having manipulated people into releasing the Eldrazi to use them as a distraction
However, Wizards really seem to be going for a Lovecraft vibe here. Moon has influence over the tide, there's a sea god worship, fishy (pun intended) cultists running around. Also, there's a new legendary on the Innistrad site that's basically Dagon, so there's that.
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However, Wizards really seem to be going for a Lovecraft vibe here. Moon has influence over the tide, there's a sea god worship, fishy (pun intended) cultists running around. Also, there's a new legendary on the Innistrad site that's basically Dagon, so there's that.
What are you talking about?
As for the OP:
But 'Great Work' is very specific... there are any number of other terms that could have been used. Like, uh, 'Grand Inquisition'.
It is not capitalized, and it is not very specific, but damn generic.
And the final piece... Thraben Inspector is looking at something that could be Emrakul's latticework, but... what if it's mycosynth?
Mycosynth was an one-of product of interaction of Mirrodin's metal and the oil. Here it is on wood. So, not in a million years. Sorry.
Avacyn has a vision of hedrons when she was hit by the madness wave. Yet people are talking Phyrexians related to her madness....
I will be laughing if everything is just connected to the sea god, and that is Marit Lage or something very similar.
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Former Fact Prospector of the Greek Alliance.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
However, Wizards really seem to be going for a Lovecraft vibe here. Moon has influence over the tide, there's a sea god worship, fishy (pun intended) cultists running around. Also, there's a new legendary on the Innistrad site that's basically Dagon, so there's that.
What are you talking about?
Sorry about that, forgot the link. On the official Innistrad plane site (here: http://magic.wizards.com/en/story/planes/innistrad), there's a new entry among the legendary creatures, called The Gitrog Toad. It has a strong lovecraftian vibe, could be inspired by Dagon, Tsathoggua, or even Cthulhu (Wizards doing a very liberal Cthulhu interpretation and ending up with Dagon without them knowing).
That, or it's a Hypnotoad.
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standard: BUG The Baron (it doesn't work, but I try anyway)
However, Wizards really seem to be going for a Lovecraft vibe here. Moon has influence over the tide, there's a sea god worship, fishy (pun intended) cultists running around. Also, there's a new legendary on the Innistrad site that's basically Dagon, so there's that.
What are you talking about?
Sorry about that, forgot the link. On the official Innistrad plane site (here: http://magic.wizards.com/en/story/planes/innistrad), there's a new entry among the legendary creatures, called The Gitrog Toad. It has a strong lovecraftian vibe, could be inspired by Dagon, Tsathoggua, or even Cthulhu (Wizards doing a very liberal Cthulhu interpretation and ending up with Dagon without them knowing).
That, or it's a Hypnotoad.
Thanks a lot!
The section also confirms that the enraged Olivia-like image from Markov Manor is indeed meant to be Olivia Voldaren.
I would be, however, very disappointed if THIS was the ancient sea god Runo Stromkirk worshipped, though the Dagon/Tsathoggua reference is great
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Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
There's a degree of poetry in Nahiri imprisoning some other huge threat on Sorin's plane, but, it really seems more like she's trying to literally do to Innstrad what they did to Zendikar, rather than picking up some other threat and being like "Here now you deal with this."
Also while the original Phyrexians were really heavy on the Madness stuff, the Mirroden ones are... not. Like at all.
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Cyme we inne frið, fram the grip of deaþ to lif inne ðis smylte land.
There's a degree of poetry in Nahiri imprisoning some other huge threat on Sorin's plane, but, it really seems more like she's trying to literally do to Innstrad what they did to Zendikar, rather than picking up some other threat and being like "Here now you deal with this."
There's the issue of Koz and Ula being dead, though, so she can't "literally do to Innistrad what they did to Zendikar." It's possible she's just trying to make Zendikar tempting for Eldrazi, but that raises two major questions. One, why would she be there now, when it sounds like she left Zendikar about 1000 years ago (Helvault speculated). Two, if she's building it because the Eldrazi are freed, how does she know (we didn't see her last block, but it was Bolas's plan to release the Eldrazi). Last but not least, is she trying to dredge up something on Innistrad from her and Sorin's past from before the Eldrazi?
In any case, sounds like we're getting more Nahiri backstory for it to make sense.
There's a degree of poetry in Nahiri imprisoning some other huge threat on Sorin's plane, but, it really seems more like she's trying to literally do to Innstrad what they did to Zendikar, rather than picking up some other threat and being like "Here now you deal with this."
There's the issue of Koz and Ula being dead, though, so she can't "literally do to Innistrad what they did to Zendikar." It's possible she's just trying to make Zendikar tempting for Eldrazi, but that raises two major questions. One, why would she be there now, when it sounds like she left Zendikar about 1000 years ago (Helvault speculated). Two, if she's building it because the Eldrazi are freed, how does she know (we didn't see her last block, but it was Bolas's plan to release the Eldrazi). Last but not least, is she trying to dredge up something on Innistrad from her and Sorin's past from before the Eldrazi?
In any case, sounds like we're getting more Nahiri backstory for it to make sense.
We're certainly getting more back story, but we don't really know when she left Zendikar or for how long. We know she wasnt there in the first Zendikar block, but we don't know if she came back between the two, saw what happened, and decided the best way to save Zendikar was to draw the Eldrazi off of Zendikar and on to Innstrad. She may not even know that Kozilek and Ulamog are dead.
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Cyme we inne frið, fram the grip of deaþ to lif inne ðis smylte land.
I'm glad this thread is here, as I've been thinking about this possibility for the last few days. I'm not completely nuts!
I think that Emrakul is likely the culprit here, but I've been trying to find clues that show otherwise. Note that I am no expert on Phyrexia/oil/the processes involved in Comlpleation.
Observations and questions that may be easily answered:
-What's up with Devilthorn Fox? Could those thorns be metallic?
-Reckless Scholar says "Progress comes at a price." Does that sound Phyrexian?
-The hanging symbol in Root Out is akin to a Phyrexian symbol mixed with Avacyn's.
-Likewise for the symbol on the shield in Ethereal Guidance. There appears to be a line going through Avacyn's symbol, making it into a hybrid with Phyrexia's symbol.
-What's up with Moldgraf Scavenger? Blobs of, well, fungus, but what is happening in the background?
The Gitaxians are situated on an ocean? What's up with the Drownyard?
Elesh Norn hears that Gitaxians hear of other worlds - she wants to get there! Maybe they found a way..Her head is kind of like an upside down Avacyn symbol...Avacyn is now 'upsidedown.' A new leader of the church?
Yes, quite a bit of reaching, and ignoring weird tentacle-y things, and watchful eyes in many images, but interesting nonetheless.
Edit:
It would be interesting to see Phyrexia involved here, as it is akin to seeing the transformation of pre industrial revolution societies of the 18th/19th centuries into more modern societies. "Oil, you say, Baron! Let's get our drills in the ground! Perhaps soon we can build one of those steel roads I've been hearing about..."
-Reckless Scholar says "Progress comes at a price." Does that sound Phyrexian?
Not really. Phyrexia is an extremely backwards faction that seeks to eliminate all free thought. It's a Lovecraftian theme that basically runs that with great knowledge comes great insanity.
unless there were something sealed in the moon previously it would just make..a giant fleshy moon
Phyrexian oil cannot produce flesh out of thin air. If the moon is 100% silver, the oil's got absolutely nothing at it. Even if it were just common silicate rock (like the real Moon more or less), the oil would not be able to get any purchase on that. In the end, the oil is fairly useless unless there is some life going on already, and if that life incorporates metallic elements, all the better.
-The hanging symbol in Root Out is akin to a Phyrexian symbol mixed with Avacyn's.
Please, not every circle with a stick is a sign of illuminati phyrexia. The letter
is fairly popular in Russian language..rings any bells? Any conspiracy theories? By the way, the Russian translation of the name 'Phyrexia' itself starts with that one. Bingo!
(thx forum admins for not allowing non-Latin characters so I have to resort to images)
It's just some sort of a root/bone attached to her symbol to create a makeshift focus or talisman. It's a reference to what can be best summed up as 'folk' or 'pagan' magic tradition that is ever present on Innistrad. There are numerous cards with similar references in the first INN block.
-Likewise for the symbol on the shield in Ethereal Guidance.
Not only is it a ridge in the middle of the shield (which actually makes sense - it makes the shield more resilient), but the entire idea of that card is the opposite of what you suggest. It is meant to represent untainted Avacynian faith, a remnant of the old guard of Cathars being protected by Saint Traft in opposition to the recent madness. It is supposed to show an unwarped symbol.
The part I'm describing on Ethereal Guidance isn't the ridge, though it is layed over it. It's a part of the symbol that juts from the bottom. On my phone it looks like it may continue above, but the resolution is bad enough that I can't tell. You are very right about the context; Ethereal Guidance isn't a card that would fit with any Phyrexian theme.
Regarding Root Out: If this is common in Innistrad, why investigate it? There must be something significant about the, well, root in the middle. Any idea how are Eldrazi spawns birthed?
Edit:
Another thought: What is Avacyn is affected by Oil, but has retained enough of her self to fight against Phyrexia. What if killing humans is the only way to prevent the spread of Oil? The card Avacyn, the Purifyer deals damage to all other creatures, including your own, and all opponents. Is killing her people killing her enemy at the same time?
However, the fact that there is a card called "Descend Upon the Sinful" featuring Avacyn makes this idea suspect. She views humans as doing something wrong, not being pawns. (Unless humans are "sinful" for helping spread Oil, and her cry of "You will all be saved" is her saving them from being compleated, and destroying Innistrad as we know it.)
That has about as much basis as claiming that Avacyn is aware of Donald Trump's popularity and is wiping out humanity in response.
True, but can it outright be denied? Again, I am no expert on mtg lore, but I seem to recall a being that was able to act independently of the Oil, despite being infected. Phyrexia seems like less of as possibility every day, but I have no idea.
NEW THEORY:
From mtg.wiki: "Karn threw himself into the Blind Eternities and locked himself away in a plane that is his alone."
The moon of Innistrad is a plane within a plane. THE MOON HOUSES KARN. (it is silver after all...)
Again, it cannot be proved otherwise, as far as I know. As such, it cannot be fully denied until more details are known.
That has about as much basis as claiming that Avacyn is aware of Donald Trump's popularity and is wiping out humanity in response.
True, but can it outright be denied? Again, I am no expert on mtg lore, but I seem to recall a being that was able to act independently of the Oil, despite being infected. Phyrexia seems like less of as possibility every day, but I have no idea.
NEW THEORY:
From mtg.wiki: "Karn threw himself into the Blind Eternities and locked himself away in a plane that is his alone."
The moon of Innistrad is a plane within a plane. THE MOON HOUSES KARN. (it is silver after all...)
Again, it cannot be proved otherwise, as far as I know. As such, it cannot be fully denied until more details are known.
That wiki quote is from immediately after the events of Time Spiral. The plane that was his alone, because he built it himself as an oldwalker, was Argentum, more commonly known as Mirrodin, currently known as New Phyrexia. For your theory to work, he would have had to make a subplane (which is something that has never been brought up in previous lore, and may not be possible) on a plane connected to an equally old and crotchety Planeswalker who has been noted as confronting anyone that steps on his plane (Sorin Markov), all with the intention of being a backup on the chance that a thing thought to be completely destroyed turned out not to be.
And I'm afraid this is a situation where you can't really go "You can't prove it's false" works. Burden of proof is on the theorist. I could say that what's going on in Innistrad is actually Nahiri and Sorin's way of celebrating their marriage, but that means nothing if I can't provide any evidence that is considered sound in the minds of this jury of storyline peers.
That has about as much basis as claiming that Avacyn is aware of Donald Trump's popularity and is wiping out humanity in response.
True, but can it outright be denied? Again, I am no expert on mtg lore, but I seem to recall a being that was able to act independently of the Oil, despite being infected. Phyrexia seems like less of as possibility every day, but I have no idea.
NEW THEORY:
From mtg.wiki: "Karn threw himself into the Blind Eternities and locked himself away in a plane that is his alone."
The moon of Innistrad is a plane within a plane. THE MOON HOUSES KARN. (it is silver after all...)
Again, it cannot be proved otherwise, as far as I know. As such, it cannot be fully denied until more details are known.
That wiki quote is from immediately after the events of Time Spiral. The plane that was his alone, because he built it himself as an oldwalker, was Argentum, more commonly known as Mirrodin, currently known as New Phyrexia. For your theory to work, he would have had to make a subplane (which is something that has never been brought up in previous lore, and may not be possible) on a plane connected to an equally old and crotchety Planeswalker who has been noted as confronting anyone that steps on his plane (Sorin Markov), all with the intention of being a backup on the chance that a thing thought to be completely destroyed turned out not to be.
And I'm afraid this is a situation where you can't really go "You can't prove it's false" works. Burden of proof is on the theorist. I could say that what's going on in Innistrad is actually Nahiri and Sorin's way of celebrating their marriage, but that means nothing if I can't provide any evidence that is considered sound in the minds of this jury of storyline peers.
Well, based on what you said, that idea is unworkable. However, going with what I knew, Innistrad's moon could act as a Helvault to another plane, holding the disappearing silver golem. Since I know little lore, I wasn't aware of the impossibility of this. All I did was connect a few dots and saw that there was no way to prove, or disprove, the connections, considering my knowledge base. My enthusiasm to find the unlikely answer to Innistrad will constantly fall into error without a great deal more reading of the backstory.
More details are now known, and it can be proved otherwise, as far as I know. As such, it must be denied, unless Wizards forgot to errata-cate the universe.
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And then I thought of something else. The theory is that Innistrad's moon is made of silver. Well. We do know that Karn was infected and he did PW all over the place. Maybe he made Innistrad's moon and it's infected?
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This has already been addressed multiple times with countless arguments, but perhaps the most solid is that, instead of going all Elesh Norn, Avacyn is doing the exact opposite of Phyrexia: mass murder instead of assimilation. And she's now Red, the least phyrexian of all colours.
Second, how does Avacyn contract the Oil? She suddenly is affected by voices after seeing a vision of hedrons. Can one be infected via a psychic link without coming into contact with oil?
Third, wouldn't Avacyn attempt to upgrade herself with machines to become "perfect". The point of the Phyrexians isn't to perfect everything with genocide, it is to assimilate and become more machine-like.
Forced to ignore the above comment I see.
Need to read old works, but it's shown in SOM that the oil does corrode and corrupt metal, often adding organic components to it.
No, in no work seen so far does the oil act psychically. You need to contract it physically, which is yet anothe rpoint against Phyrexia being repsonsible
Still, I think it's more likely we'll see some sort of harvest moon eclipse explaining it. But I doubt it will be the only thing we'll face on Innistrad, especially with the sea-God cult and Lovecraft theme.
And then what? unless there were something sealed in the moon previously it would just make..a giant fleshy moon. Which means there would have to have been something in it to Compleate and I imagine anything that is in that Moon should be old and powerful enough to Ignore the oil, and be enough of a threat itself to not need it.
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
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Again, the oil doesn't have known psychic powers. Alaso, Avacyn is connected to the Moon, but she isnt the Moon.
But seriously, I think that all theories about anything going on with the actual physical mass of the moon are jumping at conclusions. Yes, there's something moon-related going on, obviously, but that has always been the case for Innistrad. I think it's more metaphysical than literal using the moon as a macguffin of any sort.
There have been several good arguments against Phyrexia here and neither me, nor anyone else, seem to be able to provide any decent rebuttals. However, it's still as plausible as Emrakul, Marit Lage, Nicol Bolas, Tibalt or Son of the Chicken from the Outer Space. I'm still betting on Nicol Bolas using Nahiri to create a portal for Phyrexians while having manipulated people into releasing the Eldrazi to use them as a distraction
However, Wizards really seem to be going for a Lovecraft vibe here. Moon has influence over the tide, there's a sea god worship, fishy (pun intended) cultists running around. Also, there's a new legendary on the Innistrad site that's basically Dagon, so there's that.
BUG The Baron (it doesn't work, but I try anyway)
modern:
RGShaman Aggro
legacy:
UHigh Tide
German highlander:
BUG aggro control
EDH:
a positively unhealthy amount of decks
What are you talking about?
As for the OP:
It is not capitalized, and it is not very specific, but damn generic.
Mycosynth was an one-of product of interaction of Mirrodin's metal and the oil. Here it is on wood. So, not in a million years. Sorry.
Avacyn has a vision of hedrons when she was hit by the madness wave. Yet people are talking Phyrexians related to her madness....
I will be laughing if everything is just connected to the sea god, and that is Marit Lage or something very similar.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Sorry about that, forgot the link. On the official Innistrad plane site (here: http://magic.wizards.com/en/story/planes/innistrad), there's a new entry among the legendary creatures, called The Gitrog Toad. It has a strong lovecraftian vibe, could be inspired by Dagon, Tsathoggua, or even Cthulhu (Wizards doing a very liberal Cthulhu interpretation and ending up with Dagon without them knowing).
That, or it's a Hypnotoad.
BUG The Baron (it doesn't work, but I try anyway)
modern:
RGShaman Aggro
legacy:
UHigh Tide
German highlander:
BUG aggro control
EDH:
a positively unhealthy amount of decks
Thanks a lot!
The section also confirms that the enraged Olivia-like image from Markov Manor is indeed meant to be Olivia Voldaren.
I would be, however, very disappointed if THIS was the ancient sea god Runo Stromkirk worshipped, though the Dagon/Tsathoggua reference is great
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Also while the original Phyrexians were really heavy on the Madness stuff, the Mirroden ones are... not. Like at all.
There's the issue of Koz and Ula being dead, though, so she can't "literally do to Innistrad what they did to Zendikar." It's possible she's just trying to make Zendikar tempting for Eldrazi, but that raises two major questions. One, why would she be there now, when it sounds like she left Zendikar about 1000 years ago (Helvault speculated). Two, if she's building it because the Eldrazi are freed, how does she know (we didn't see her last block, but it was Bolas's plan to release the Eldrazi). Last but not least, is she trying to dredge up something on Innistrad from her and Sorin's past from before the Eldrazi?
In any case, sounds like we're getting more Nahiri backstory for it to make sense.
We're certainly getting more back story, but we don't really know when she left Zendikar or for how long. We know she wasnt there in the first Zendikar block, but we don't know if she came back between the two, saw what happened, and decided the best way to save Zendikar was to draw the Eldrazi off of Zendikar and on to Innstrad. She may not even know that Kozilek and Ulamog are dead.
I think that Emrakul is likely the culprit here, but I've been trying to find clues that show otherwise. Note that I am no expert on Phyrexia/oil/the processes involved in Comlpleation.
Observations and questions that may be easily answered:
-What's up with Devilthorn Fox? Could those thorns be metallic?
-Reckless Scholar says "Progress comes at a price." Does that sound Phyrexian?
-The hanging symbol in Root Out is akin to a Phyrexian symbol mixed with Avacyn's.
-Likewise for the symbol on the shield in Ethereal Guidance. There appears to be a line going through Avacyn's symbol, making it into a hybrid with Phyrexia's symbol.
-What's up with Moldgraf Scavenger? Blobs of, well, fungus, but what is happening in the background?
The Gitaxians are situated on an ocean? What's up with the Drownyard?
Elesh Norn hears that Gitaxians hear of other worlds - she wants to get there! Maybe they found a way..Her head is kind of like an upside down Avacyn symbol...Avacyn is now 'upsidedown.' A new leader of the church?
Yes, quite a bit of reaching, and ignoring weird tentacle-y things, and watchful eyes in many images, but interesting nonetheless.
Edit:
It would be interesting to see Phyrexia involved here, as it is akin to seeing the transformation of pre industrial revolution societies of the 18th/19th centuries into more modern societies. "Oil, you say, Baron! Let's get our drills in the ground! Perhaps soon we can build one of those steel roads I've been hearing about..."
Not really. Phyrexia is an extremely backwards faction that seeks to eliminate all free thought. It's a Lovecraftian theme that basically runs that with great knowledge comes great insanity.
Phyrexian oil cannot produce flesh out of thin air. If the moon is 100% silver, the oil's got absolutely nothing at it. Even if it were just common silicate rock (like the real Moon more or less), the oil would not be able to get any purchase on that. In the end, the oil is fairly useless unless there is some life going on already, and if that life incorporates metallic elements, all the better.
Please, not every circle with a stick is a sign of
illuminatiphyrexia. The letteris fairly popular in Russian language..rings any bells? Any conspiracy theories? By the way, the Russian translation of the name 'Phyrexia' itself starts with that one. Bingo!
(thx forum admins for not allowing non-Latin characters so I have to resort to images)
It's just some sort of a root/bone attached to her symbol to create a makeshift focus or talisman. It's a reference to what can be best summed up as 'folk' or 'pagan' magic tradition that is ever present on Innistrad. There are numerous cards with similar references in the first INN block.
Not only is it a ridge in the middle of the shield (which actually makes sense - it makes the shield more resilient), but the entire idea of that card is the opposite of what you suggest. It is meant to represent untainted Avacynian faith, a remnant of the old guard of Cathars being protected by Saint Traft in opposition to the recent madness. It is supposed to show an unwarped symbol.
Regarding Root Out: If this is common in Innistrad, why investigate it? There must be something significant about the, well, root in the middle. Any idea how are Eldrazi spawns birthed?
Edit:
Another thought: What is Avacyn is affected by Oil, but has retained enough of her self to fight against Phyrexia. What if killing humans is the only way to prevent the spread of Oil? The card Avacyn, the Purifyer deals damage to all other creatures, including your own, and all opponents. Is killing her people killing her enemy at the same time?
However, the fact that there is a card called "Descend Upon the Sinful" featuring Avacyn makes this idea suspect. She views humans as doing something wrong, not being pawns. (Unless humans are "sinful" for helping spread Oil, and her cry of "You will all be saved" is her saving them from being compleated, and destroying Innistrad as we know it.)
Suddenly, she looks less like a villain...
True, but can it outright be denied? Again, I am no expert on mtg lore, but I seem to recall a being that was able to act independently of the Oil, despite being infected. Phyrexia seems like less of as possibility every day, but I have no idea.
NEW THEORY:
From mtg.wiki: "Karn threw himself into the Blind Eternities and locked himself away in a plane that is his alone."
The moon of Innistrad is a plane within a plane. THE MOON HOUSES KARN. (it is silver after all...)
Again, it cannot be proved otherwise, as far as I know. As such, it cannot be fully denied until more details are known.
That wiki quote is from immediately after the events of Time Spiral. The plane that was his alone, because he built it himself as an oldwalker, was Argentum, more commonly known as Mirrodin, currently known as New Phyrexia. For your theory to work, he would have had to make a subplane (which is something that has never been brought up in previous lore, and may not be possible) on a plane connected to an equally old and crotchety Planeswalker who has been noted as confronting anyone that steps on his plane (Sorin Markov), all with the intention of being a backup on the chance that a thing thought to be completely destroyed turned out not to be.
And I'm afraid this is a situation where you can't really go "You can't prove it's false" works. Burden of proof is on the theorist. I could say that what's going on in Innistrad is actually Nahiri and Sorin's way of celebrating their marriage, but that means nothing if I can't provide any evidence that is considered sound in the minds of this jury of storyline peers.
Well, based on what you said, that idea is unworkable. However, going with what I knew, Innistrad's moon could act as a Helvault to another plane, holding the disappearing silver golem. Since I know little lore, I wasn't aware of the impossibility of this. All I did was connect a few dots and saw that there was no way to prove, or disprove, the connections, considering my knowledge base. My enthusiasm to find the unlikely answer to Innistrad will constantly fall into error without a great deal more reading of the backstory.
More details are now known, and it can be proved otherwise, as far as I know. As such, it must be denied, unless Wizards forgot to errata-cate the universe.