(although it could induct Ajani into the Gatewatch, and one of Liliana's demons could be there, so I'm not ruling it out), but rather to establish Bolas as the major reoccurring nemesis for the Gatewatch, the proverbial Lex Luthor to their Justice League.
I doubt we'll see any new members to the Gatewatch - mostly because Origins pretty much laid out the Gatewatch for us. Everyone else will be tangential allies that come and go episodically - just like Tamiyo. The only way it could work to please everyone would be for them to add a planeswalker for all 10 colour pairings - and a cast of 15 characters could get unwieldy.
I have no opinion on the recurring villain part. Not enough data for me since I don't know enough about Nicol Bolas' history.
Mark Rosewater has made it abundantly clear that other characters can join the Gatewatch, and that we'd see new Oaths for any new members. In fact, now that we're out of the Origin five, it seems super likely that we'll get at least one newbie.
The Origin 5 were considered to be the "Founding Members," the Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman (give or take X amount, depending on continuity) of their Justice League.
If the Gatewatch becomes this club that no one else gets to join, then the whole shebang was a bit pointless.
As for Nicol Bolas, simply put he loathes Ajani for not letting him destroy Alara (Ajani loathes Bolas because Bolas orchestrated the Conflux); Jace doesn't like him and he doesn't like Jace (because Jace has wrecked some of Bolas' smaller plans, [notably the Consortium] and made one of his servants a bit of a wreck [Tezzeret]); Liliana doesn't like Bolas because he's just another "master" she doesn't want (he organized her whole demonic pact deal, and owned her for a little while in the novels); Gideon, Chandra, and Nissa haven't interacted with him, but he's the being who put Sarkhan at the Eye of Ugin, and pushed Chandra and Jace to visit at the same time, which lead to the release of the Eldrazi, which most people (those three especially) consider a "Big No-No."
Bolas is a little too "Evil Mastermind" for a lot of people, but the broad strokes of it are legit as a main enemy.
Mark Rosewater has made it abundantly clear that other characters can join the Gatewatch, and that we'd see new Oaths for any new members. In fact, now that we're out of the Origin five, it seems super likely that we'll get at least one newbie.
You could ask him anything literally anything and he'll say "it's possible", and he'll often even include a little winky face. Unless it's something that the community would be outraged at or confused by (the only reason he denounced Contraptions in Kaladesh was because he knew most reviewers would be talking more about their absence then what is actually in the set if he didn't) Seriously - go look through his blog and see how many times he says "it's possible" to the most absurd things!
So yes - other characters can join the Gatewatch. Doesn't mean they will. And, yes, if (hypothetically) a new character joins the gatewatch of course they'd get an Oath - doesn't mean they will join.
That said - if anyone were to join the Gatewatch it'd be Ajani first. Mostly because of the artwork of him with the other Gatewatch members. Ajani has always been my favourite walker - so I'm always up for more Ajani.
Mark Rosewater has made it abundantly clear that other characters can join the Gatewatch, and that we'd see new Oaths for any new members. In fact, now that we're out of the Origin five, it seems super likely that we'll get at least one newbie.
You could ask him anything literally anything and he'll say "it's possible", and he'll often even include a little winky face. Unless it's something that the community would be outraged at or confused by (the only reason he denounced Contraptions in Kaladesh was because he knew most reviewers would be talking more about their absence then what is actually in the set if he didn't) Seriously - go look through his blog and see how many times he says "it's possible" to the most absurd things!
So yes - other characters can join the Gatewatch. Doesn't mean they will. And, yes, if (hypothetically) a new character joins the gatewatch of course they'd get an Oath - doesn't mean they will join.
That said - if anyone were to join the Gatewatch it'd be Ajani first. Mostly because of the artwork of him with the other Gatewatch members. Ajani has always been my favourite walker - so I'm always up for more Ajani.
I'm aware of MaRo's habits. But he's answered the "Could someone else join the Gatewatch" 6 times now, and only one of them had a winky face.
With the Winky Face only being on the question of "Will a Multicolored Planeswalker join" and that being in July, which feels like one of MaRo's "I'm telling you but not telling you" moments.
Two of those were before we even knew Liliana would join, which was seen by many as...improbable, shall we say.
Mark Rosewater has made it abundantly clear that other characters can join the Gatewatch, and that we'd see new Oaths for any new members. In fact, now that we're out of the Origin five, it seems super likely that we'll get at least one newbie.
The Origin 5 were considered to be the "Founding Members," the Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman (give or take X amount, depending on continuity) of their Justice League.
If the Gatewatch becomes this club that no one else gets to join, then the whole shebang was a bit pointless.
As for Nicol Bolas, simply put he loathes Ajani for not letting him destroy Alara (Ajani loathes Bolas because Bolas orchestrated the Conflux); Jace doesn't like him and he doesn't like Jace (because Jace has wrecked some of Bolas' smaller plans, [notably the Consortium] and made one of his servants a bit of a wreck [Tezzeret]); Liliana doesn't like Bolas because he's just another "master" she doesn't want (he organized her whole demonic pact deal, and owned her for a little while in the novels); Gideon, Chandra, and Nissa haven't interacted with him, but he's the being who put Sarkhan at the Eye of Ugin, and pushed Chandra and Jace to visit at the same time, which lead to the release of the Eldrazi, which most people (those three especially) consider a "Big No-No."
Bolas is a little too "Evil Mastermind" for a lot of people, but the broad strokes of it are legit as a main enemy.
You could ask him anything literally anything and he'll say "it's possible", and he'll often even include a little winky face. Unless it's something that the community would be outraged at or confused by (the only reason he denounced Contraptions in Kaladesh was because he knew most reviewers would be talking more about their absence then what is actually in the set if he didn't) Seriously - go look through his blog and see how many times he says "it's possible" to the most absurd things!
So yes - other characters can join the Gatewatch. Doesn't mean they will. And, yes, if (hypothetically) a new character joins the gatewatch of course they'd get an Oath - doesn't mean they will join.
That said - if anyone were to join the Gatewatch it'd be Ajani first. Mostly because of the artwork of him with the other Gatewatch members. Ajani has always been my favourite walker - so I'm always up for more Ajani.
I'm aware of MaRo's habits. But he's answered the "Could someone else join the Gatewatch" 6 times now, and only one of them had a winky face.
With the Winky Face only being on the question of "Will a Multicolored Planeswalker join" and that being in July, which feels like one of MaRo's "I'm telling you but not telling you" moments.
Two of those were before we even knew Liliana would join, which was seen by many as...improbable, shall we say.
Here's the full list that I could find:
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/136983742248/would-it-be-possible-for-another-planeswalker-to
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/146639780318/ifwhen-more-planeswalkers-join-the-gatewatch
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/147269465683/will-we-see-multicolored-planeswalkers-join-the
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/147324715193/hi-maro-is-it-possible-for-a-colorless
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/148188509798/hi-sorry-if-youve-answered-this-before-but
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/148204461613/im-really-sorry-for-double-asking-but-i-meant-as