The Mending did affected the nature of the spark the same way for every planeswalker but it did not take away their inherit powers. Bolas still has all attributes and advantages that come with being an elder dragon, just as Sorin had remained a vampire and Ugin had remained a dragon. All planeswalkers were affected but it was only the power of the spark that was weakened.
Regarding those who ascend on Amonketh, I was talking about the possibility of them ascending pre Mending. That would be a problem for Bolas.
Ah, yeah now I get it.
It's not yet clear though if it's been like that from the begining of the plane. I mean, he could have just changed the ethics of the plane and with that its purpose, most likely through the gods as his proxies, throughout the centuries. It's probably not a young plane.
Unlikely to be a planeswalker factory.
Keep in mind that Nicol Bolas is an elder dragon. He comes from a race which had waged war on itself to near extinction, with Nicol Bolas being the last remaining elder dragon. Since Amonketh was created before the Mending, the planeswalkers who would ascend there would be as powerful as the oldwalkers, and it would be extremely out of character for Bolas to start creating those with power to potentially try to usurp him. Elder dragons don't share power and they don't play nice with others.
From what I remember reading up, the Mending affected all planeswalkers on all planes. I might remember it incorrectly, do you have a source for that information?
It doesn't seem very plausible that he would create competition, that right. But he is known to use planeswalkers as agents, I would just assume the ones from the home plane would be easier to control, especially after the indoctrination of the plane's culture.
One from many.
By force of will.
Forged by might.
Driven by fire.
Born by death.
To rise eternal!
I can't help but feel Bolas is duping all these mortals.
Does seem like it. Also that he seeks something beyond mana.
One of many W by force of will U forged by might B driven by fire R born by death G to rise eternal as a planeswalker? These whole trial and death culture on the plane is certainly a philosophy Bolas installed to evoke planeswalker's sparks of all those who are carrying the potential.
The plane's culture plays perfectly well as a planeswalker factory. Unlikely to be an coincidence.
On the life draining: I was under the impression, that the closer to death the aetherborn is, the more margin a life gives him. Draining the hyanne with having 3 years to go did practically nothing, the first enforcer 2 minutes before death gave 12 days, the second on top gave 10 days. But it could also be related to the vitality of the victim too though.
Don't know if there's been some info out yet, other than the keywords five gods' trial, but my assumption would be that Nicol Bolas is certainly one of them, since most gods of the egyption mythology are wearing a disk between their horns.
And second guess would be that the gods are three colored. We didn't have those in Theros, so maybe now? Think there are ten possible combinations though, but maybe the others are demigods or something? Not like the egyptian mythologie doesn't offer many to choose from either way though.
I'm a little bit confused why there is a need to have the planeswalker guide now, when there's going to be an art book in Janurary.
And neither am I a fan of the idea to have an art book after each new set. For some reason I thought Zendikar and Innistad having one after the return block was appropriate, because of the amount of story involved etc, Kaladesh however, looks like it's driven by the money making desire. I don't want to get used to buying one after each new block. Oh well.
Heheh, I've always thought that Gideon might have eyes only for Chandra
I have always seen Gideon as asexual as he seemed to not engage in any kind of flirt. To this point I agree though, giving him the chance to favour at least anyone would add to some depth. Preferably someone who has different ideals than himself, leaving him questioning his own morals.
Why not Liliana? The art on Collective Effort and Deploy the Gatewatch were quite amusing in themselves. Plus the Jace-Liliana background would make a spacy romance triangle. ;>
Would make sense, except that I can't recall any evidence in the literature that points to mana-rich planes as upsetting any balance. Surely Dominaria or Shandalar would've upset the balance within the Shard then (well Dominaria did, but due to Planeswalkers and their wars and time experiments). Unless the Mending had something to do with it that no one's aware of yet, and the Shard held the Eldrazi back somehow.
In any case, not only Ulamog is lured by mana because Nahiri explains that Emrakul's spawn follows leylines.
Hmm, well maybe Dominaria is an exception, because it is a special case being in the center and holding things together or something, iirc. Shandalar always seemed like a filler to me, not suited to carry out such a major block.
Anyways, that is my take one how the Eldrazi could possibly make sense and act as an useful part in that ecosystem. Emrakul leaving Zendikar instead of Ulamog seem not to fit perfectly though, right.
Would make sense, except that I can't recall any evidence in the literature that points to mana-rich planes as upsetting any balance. Surely Dominaria or Shandalar would've upset the balance within the Shard then (well Dominaria did, but due to Planeswalkers and their wars and time experiments). Unless the Mending had something to do with it that no one's aware of yet, and the Shard held the Eldrazi back somehow.
In any case, not only Ulamog is lured by mana because Nahiri explains that Emrakul's spawn follows leylines.
Hmm, well maybe Dominaria is an exception, because it is a special case being in the center and holding things together or something, iirc. Shandalar always seemed like a filler to me, not suited to carry out such a major block.
Anyways, that is my take one how the Eldrazi could possibly make sense and act as an useful part in that ecosystem. Emrakul leaving Zendikar instead of Ulamog seem not to fit perfectly though, right.
After reading today's chapter, I had the impression of the Eldrazi 'harvesting' matured planes, who had time to create a lot of mana. Innistrad being not ready yet could mean that it's not that matured yet, to be destroyed.
Perhaps too much mana on one place brings the multiverse out of balance and the Eldrazi keeping that balance by destroying such planes.
Maybe Ulamog the ceaseless Hunger who is attracted to mana is the first step of the mechanism, finding those planes, and then Kozilek and Emrakul follow with whatever their purpose could be.
Gideon is quite the hunk, agreed. Unfortunately there's not more to his character than righteousness, which is a total bore. I'd like to see him facing an inner conflict, where he'd have to choose something over something, and that trauma haunting him later on, or some other more meaningful ways to get some depth in... meaning, I haven't completely given him up yet.
Not to mention Nahiri is a WHITE villain, in both mana and looks There is no black in her, because she is not doing this for power, but for righteous fury, twisted as it was.
I like having variety in villainy. Twisted youth is a great way to insert an unpredictable element to the universe. Traditionally only black, blue, and red spawn enemies, which is why I appreciate Garruk and Naihri. If only they could be pure green and pure white...
Genereally I agree, there should be a varity of villainious characters. Limiting it only to certain colours makes it rather boring. Althoug it is all a matter of perspective, as in Azorious would be the greatest villain of the freedom loving Chandra. And speaking of which, Leuitnant Baral incoming soon, in most likely white-order aligned colours.
Awesome review! Thank you so much for that. Really enjoying the summaries, especially the controversy parts, that point out inconsistancies along the plot due to different sources. Noticed couple minor typos along the read, which maybe you wanna fix. "Noyan Dar, a former scholar and lull (m)age", "she resisted Ulamog’s mental control and (and) instead rallied the other free vampires to fight those who fell under Ulamog’s thrall"
It's not yet clear though if it's been like that from the begining of the plane. I mean, he could have just changed the ethics of the plane and with that its purpose, most likely through the gods as his proxies, throughout the centuries. It's probably not a young plane.
It doesn't seem very plausible that he would create competition, that right. But he is known to use planeswalkers as agents, I would just assume the ones from the home plane would be easier to control, especially after the indoctrination of the plane's culture.
One of many W by force of will U forged by might B driven by fire R born by death G to rise eternal as a planeswalker? These whole trial and death culture on the plane is certainly a philosophy Bolas installed to evoke planeswalker's sparks of all those who are carrying the potential.
The plane's culture plays perfectly well as a planeswalker factory. Unlikely to be an coincidence.
On the life draining: I was under the impression, that the closer to death the aetherborn is, the more margin a life gives him. Draining the hyanne with having 3 years to go did practically nothing, the first enforcer 2 minutes before death gave 12 days, the second on top gave 10 days. But it could also be related to the vitality of the victim too though.
And second guess would be that the gods are three colored. We didn't have those in Theros, so maybe now? Think there are ten possible combinations though, but maybe the others are demigods or something? Not like the egyptian mythologie doesn't offer many to choose from either way though.
And neither am I a fan of the idea to have an art book after each new set. For some reason I thought Zendikar and Innistad having one after the return block was appropriate, because of the amount of story involved etc, Kaladesh however, looks like it's driven by the money making desire. I don't want to get used to buying one after each new block. Oh well.
I like how she was so confident about the assassination's succeas, that she started re-decorating the palace simultaneously.
I still don't like Fiore though, seems too similar to Mercadia;|
Why not Liliana? The art on Collective Effort and Deploy the Gatewatch were quite amusing in themselves. Plus the Jace-Liliana background would make a spacy romance triangle. ;>
Yeah, I'm team #Gidiana now!!!
Hmm, well maybe Dominaria is an exception, because it is a special case being in the center and holding things together or something, iirc. Shandalar always seemed like a filler to me, not suited to carry out such a major block.
Anyways, that is my take one how the Eldrazi could possibly make sense and act as an useful part in that ecosystem. Emrakul leaving Zendikar instead of Ulamog seem not to fit perfectly though, right.
Hmm, well maybe Dominaria is an exception, because it is a special case being in the center and holding things together or something, iirc. Shandalar always seemed like a filler to me, not suited to carry out such a major block.
Anyways, that is my take one how the Eldrazi could possibly make sense and act as an useful part in that ecosystem. Emrakul leaving Zendikar instead of Ulamog seem not to fit perfectly though, right.
Perhaps too much mana on one place brings the multiverse out of balance and the Eldrazi keeping that balance by destroying such planes.
Maybe Ulamog the ceaseless Hunger who is attracted to mana is the first step of the mechanism, finding those planes, and then Kozilek and Emrakul follow with whatever their purpose could be.
I do think that Sailor Moon and Soratami in general might have had same inspiration - rabbit in the moon, which is a Japanese folkore story iirc.