Welcome back to Archive Trap, the unofficial guide to Magic: the Gathering. Today we will take one more look at the plane of Alara, a world that was once sundered into five shards but has now violently merged back together. Cultures that have been divided for longer than recorded memory now clash in a battle for survival. In Part I we looked at the world building of each plane. In Part II we talked about the characters and the backstory of the plane itself. In Part III, we followed Ajani's story right up until the Conflux. Today: Can Ajani stop Bolas? No, probably not. Good luck, Alara!
The conflicts between the shards is an element that I am excited to see explored further.
Alara Reborn key art by Chris Rahn
Alara Reborn
A number of short stories take place around the Conflux itself. As many of them do not feature any main characters, I will not summarize them here, but they are linked above if you're interested. Please note that if a story seems to be a 'card' feature (for instance, Thraximundar), I placed the short story under the relevant character section back in Part I rather than cluttering up the story section here.
We return now to Bant, no longer a separate planar shard but instead a geographic region on the reborn Alara. The Skyward Eye try to convince Aarsil that this is the apocalyptic event foretold in their prophecy. Esper has crashed into the Bant coast, and the two cultures go to war almost immediately. Aarsil appoints Rafiq as Knight-General in command of the allied Bant forces, known as Asha's Army, to fight Esper. Unfortunately, Rafiq realizes too late that Esper does not fight like a nation of Bant, and they are quickly forced to retreat from an enemy with powers beyond their understanding. Elspeth resisted the call to war at first, but eventually finds herself on the front lines of Asha's Army. Using her magic, she does her best to protect the forces of Bant, but she cannot be everywhere at once. Instead, she spots the Mage leading the Esper forces and launches one of her soldiers at the Mage. She does not see the result, as Mubin, mind controlled by Esper magic, bashes her with his mace. During the battle, Rafiq realizes he will have to abandon honor to survive, much less win, and strikes Mubin in the back to bring his rampage to an end. Elspeth wakes up in a bed and finds she has Rafiq as a visitor. They talk but Elspeth is still weak and cannot help Bant do what is needed to fight off Esper. Elsewhere, Mubin learns that Rafiq's blow paralyzed him. Rafiq feels a lot of guilt about it, but ignores Mubin's pleading about Asha's scripture and how it seems to give direction on what to do now that the Conflux is upon them. Instead, Rafiq sets out to Esper to learn the secret of Etherium. He wants the metal to help his friend walk again. In Esper, he succeeds in capturing a shipment of Carmot from a group of Esperites who themselves had invaded Jund. He also sends a scout into Grixis, who spots a group of survivors from the last human hermitage.
Back on Bant, Elspeth interrogates Gwafa Hazid and learns of the dragon who put him up to the destruction of Giltspire. At the same time, Mubin has an epiphany while reading Asha's scripture, and demands a cart be brought to him. Mubin travels to the palace of Aarsil the Blessed and makes an unusual request: he wants to dig up the twelve trees of Valeron, a sacred site. Using the obelisk at Giltspire as a guide, he has realized the Skyward Eye have been deceiving Bant for years and downplaying an important artifact that may save Bant in these dark times: The Sword of Asha. Aarsil tries to expel him but Mubin will not be put off. He sneaks back (somehow, being a giant Rhox without the use of his legs) during the night and pulls up one of the trees, discovering a sword fragment underneath. Aarsil is furious, but the revelation gives him what he needs to convince her to allow him to finish.
On Grixis, Sarkhan Vol reports back to Bolas, where they discuss why the Bant obelisk is not producing mana as expected. Sarkhan is sent on a new mission to Naya — but first, Bolas presents Sarkhan with a gift: mind controlled dragons from Jund. Sarkhan is repulsed by this gift, he respects the dragon's ferocity, and seeing it extinguished leaves him with doubts. He accepts the flight of dragons anyway (because Dragons), with Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund becoming his personal mount. The problem with Bant's obelisk is making Bolas impatient, he wants the Maelstrom to form faster. He feels his own mortality more than ever, and sends Malfegor to attack Bant and awaken the Obelisk personally. Because Malfegor's position is not secure, to coerce him Bolas threatens to turn Grixis over to one of his rivals - like Sedris. Malfegor gleefully embraces the idea of destroying Esper on his way through, and leads his army toward Palandius. As it turns out, Etherium has a glaring weakness - Malfegor can take control of it - and he quickly dominates Esper. With no defenses, Sharuum is forced to flee Malfegor's wrath as he subverts her minions. This momentary halt of the Grixis horde allows Rafiq to send an aven scout ahead to warn Bant of Malfegor's coming.
On Jund, Kresh's clan has been greatly diminished since Rakka's betrayal. Sarkhan has taken to razing the low lands with his flight of dragons, further culling Kresh's numbers. Believing his clan is doomed, Kresh begins looking for an honorable death for the clan. When a scout reports a white cat appearing from nowhere, he sees it as a sign. Ajani, searching for Bolas, aligns perfectly with Kresh. Kresh can now get his revenge as well as a worthy death. Rakka had spent her time going from clan to clan (including the Nel Toth) convincing them a fight was coming, much like she had with Kresh. Ajani, Kresh, and the remainder of his tribe fight challenge after challenge on their way to Rakka. They are beset by undead, which refuse to stay down, at least until Ajani magically enhances his axe to destroy them all. Finally, after a harrowing journey, Rakka appears. She blasts Kresh with lightning, but wants to recruit Ajani like she did Sarkhan. This would be the perfect opportunity to find Bolas, but it'd mean betraying his new comrades. Jazal's voice appears to his brother once more:
Times up, brother. Your vengeance, or your friends. What will it be?
Ajani chooses his friends, and Rakka is slain. The group sets out for Grixis in the hopes of finding Bolas.
Mayael waits in Naya with an army of gargantuans. She is unsure of the prophecy she received, but is not willing to risk everything if she is wrong. Fortunately, her reflection is cut short by Sarkhan arriving with his flight of dragons. The dragons quickly dominate the gargantuans, who have no defenses against their aerial abilities and fire breath.
Elsewhere on Naya, Marisi begins to rally the Wild Nacatl behind him. The clans submit one by one, and he leads them to war against the Cloud Nacatl.
Zaliki realizes what Marisi is doing, and so she grabs Jazal's notes and slips out to warn the Qasali (the Cloud Nacatl). They hesitantly welcome her, and she reveals what Marisi is after: the Obelisk of Naya, called the Tower of Qasal. When Marisi's army arrives, Zaliki reveals the truth: it was she who planted the artifact that hatched the dark magic that killed Jazal, at Marisi's behest. She had been deceived and betrayed by the legendary figure of her people. Zaliki tries to avoid a battle, but her entreaty has no effect - the Nacatl factions go to war. Zaliki uses her magic to battle Marisi, and discovers the Maelstrom's raw energy can fuel her magic. She defeats him, but at the cost of shattering the Tower of Qasal.
Ajani and Kresh come across the bizarre scene of Sarkhan Vol riding Karrthus, seemingly fleeing from the combined forces of Naya. All of them converge on the Maelstrom at the center of the plane. Without anything better to do (plus it seems like a good lead), Kresh and Ajani follow.
Rafiq arrives at Giltspire just a day ahead of Malfegor, having dropped off the survivors of Grixis on the way (this subplot was dropped from this summary for brevity's sake). He is greeted by the combined forces of Bant - Asha's Army - and Elspeth Tirel. Rafiq takes command and prepares a defense. Tellingly, he has his armor fitted with a back plate, showing he finally accepted the new world for what it is. His faith, however, is shaken but not destroyed. When the Grixis horde arrives, the two armies clash, Knight against undead, Angel versus demon. Elspeth surveys the battlefield and realizes Malfegor is the true threat. She spurs the legion she commands onward, but is stopped by Aarsil (who knows her for some reason not made clear). Aarsil hands her the Sword of Asha and commands her to bring it to Rafiq. The delay saves her, as her legion is killed is by a massive wave of death magic Malfegor unleashes to destroy the Obelisk (Somehow. You know, black has an awful lot of ways to destroy artifacts, just not on the cards). Elspeth delivers the sword to Rafiq, who uses it to charge at Malfegor. Elspeth supports him with her magic, levitating Rafiq and sending him straight at Malfegor's heart. Rafiq slashes across the beast, sword glowing with holy power, felling the abomination.
Ajani, Kresh and the Nayan Armies arrive at the Maelstrom. Zaliki, who had lead the Nacatl there after she defeated Marisi, confesses the truth when she sees Ajani. She had believed that the magic was just intended to scare the tribe into line, and had no idea Jazal would die. Ajani is angry and conflicted - Zaliki has even ruined his chance for revenge against Marisi, having killed the old cat herself. Jazal's spirit whispers to Ajani again, imploring him to remember who she is to him. Ajani is left with a moment of indecision, and like with the witch Chimamatl, he spares Zaliki. Instead, he sets his sights on the one who set all this in motion: Bolas. Ajani watches the battle with Sarkhan's Dragons erupt around him, and notices how it affects the Maelstrom. When the Bant obelisk is destroyed, the fifth and final line of mana flows into the churning mass of mana. Jazal speaks what Ajani already knows: the Alaran conflicts are fueling the maelstrom. He unleashes an enormous wave of energy that causes all the combatants to pause, and when they rejoin the fight they find their mana bonds have been severed (Ajani used his ultimate}. Ajani has stopped the immediate problem, but of course this is when Bolas chooses to reveal himself. Now unable to cast magic, the Nayan army stands no chance against Bolas, and so Ajani shouts for them to retreat. Zaliki asks Ajani to leave with the rest, but he refuses. He confronts Bolas, who casually slaps him away with a small blast of magic.
Bolas taunts the cat, but Ajani calls his bluff: Bolas is afraid of his own mortality. Bolas is almost goaded into a fight, but instead turns and steps into the maelstrom, fulfilling his plan. Inside, Bolas approaches godhood once more. He emerges a force of the multiverse, no longer ravaged by time, and more than capable of destroying one lone kitty. Ajani notices that Bolas, in his arrogance, has left a sliver of the Maelstrom's power nearby. Bolas, drunk with his newly restored might, taunts Ajani. Ajani pleads for Bolas to just leave - he has what he wanted - and he senses that Bolas is preparing to destroy the plane as his first act with his new power. When Bolas refuses, Ajani leaps into what is left of the Maelstrom and has a sudden moment of perfect clarity. He has one final conversation with Jazal, who is proud of his brother for accepting wisdom. Revenge is outside of Ajani's grasp, and so Ajani has chosen to focus on what is really important. In their last moments together, Jazal gives him the key to victory before fading away for good.
Ajani wins by scaring Bolas off with his own Elder shadow.
Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 Loading Screen Art by Dave Kendall
Ajani cannot defeat Bolas, but he has always been able to bring out the best in others. So he calls forth the essence of Bolas's soul, a perfect duplicate, and the two perfectly matched dragons tear into each other. After all, the only threat in the multiverse to Bolas is Bolas, now at the peak of his post-mending power. With a flash, Bolas is gone - not dead - but never to return. The last few chapters conclude each character's story: Elspeth's idyllic home was shattered, and she feels she can no longer remain and see what will become of it. As a Sigiled-Caste Knight, leaving means she can never return. Elspeth bids farewell to her sole remaining companion from Bant, and planeswalks away in the night. Rafiq reunites with Mubin, having secured Etherium for his friend to walk once more. But, horribly, the procedure goes wrong and kills the Rhox, leaving Rafiq despondent. Also: WTF Doug? That seemed like a needlessly dark end for poor Mubin.
Sarkhan, in his failure, begins to lose his mind. He fled that final battle, and he fears the punishment he will receive from Bolas. Ajani had cut his mana bonds, leaving him powerless and unable to command his flight of dragons. Heading to the same caldera that Ajani had once flung himself from to planeswalk, Sarkhan too throws himself toward the fire and planeswalks away. We then return to Naya, where Ajani is cleaning the blood from Jazal's den. Zaliki arrives, but Ajani still has not forgiven her. When she makes to leave he stops her - the elders had appointed Ajani the new Kha, but he abdicates to Zaliki instead. Knowing what she has done, he believes she will be the last person to be tricked again, and in the perfect position to make peace with the elves and cloud Nacatl in Ajani's absence.
With that, Ajani leaves Alara for greater things.
Jace and Tezzeret's parting was... not on good terms. Bolas was happy to take advantage.
Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 Loading Screen Karl Kopinski
Test of Metal
We don't know too much about the time period after the Conflux yet, but we do know that it results in the shards interacting in new and different ways. Some of these are for the better, and many for the worse. It's unclear how much Test of Metal is still canon, for reasons I'll get into after my summary. For now, just keep in mind that the continuity of this novel is iffy at best.
After having his mind wiped by Jace Beleren and left for dead on Kamigawa (covered in Jace, Tezzeret and the Infinite Consortium), Tezzeret awakens in a cave on Jund. He receives taunts from Bolas, who installed a fail-safe in his mind named Doctor Jest. Jest prevents Tezzeret from doing anything that Bolas might not want him to do by sending completely debilitating pain signals through Tezzeret's mind. Bolas rebuilt Tezzeret following his brutal defeat by Jace. Even though Tezzeret had rebelled, Bolas still thinks he could be useful and has a task for Tezzeret: Find Crucius the Mad, creator of Etherium. He gives him a chunk of Sangrite and sets Tezzeret loose on Esper. There, Tezzeret attempts to recover a stash of Etherium from his time as head of the Infinite Consortium. Unfortunately, Jace Beleren has trapped the stash against the possibility of Tezzeret returning after being mindwiped. Tezzeret survives the trap and sets one of his own. He disguises himself as his own father, and allows himself to be captured by Jace's top lieutenant, the pyromancer Baltrice (once Tezzeret's lackey). Tezzeret immediately knows that something is off about Baltrice, as she loathed Jace previously but now shows complete devotion to the mind mage. Eventually, Tezzeret's gambit (no, not that one) pays off, and Jace arrives believing their plan to capture Tezzeret failed. Jace senses something is wrong, but is too late to stop Tezzeret from implanting a device, fashioned after Doctor Jest, in Jace's skull. Baltrice agrees to help Tezzeret in exchange for removing the device.
This is exactly what Tezzeret wanted. The two planeswalkers ambush Silas Renn, Tezzeret's old rival during his time with the Seekers of Carmot. They use Renn to infiltrate a meeting with Sharuum the Hegemon, to whom Tezzeret shows a great deal of respect. Rather than killing them all, Sharuum gives Tezzeret hints as to where to go next to find Crucius: the Crystal Maze in the Glass Dunes. She promises Tezzeret all that she owns (literal dominion over Esper) if he can give her just a few minutes with her love, Crucius. Tezzeret sets out, but finds that the way into the maze is blocked by millions of zombies. He wades through them in etherium armor, losing contact with Baltrice along the way, who he fears dead. Liliana Vess appears, having summoned the zombies, and warns them that Renn arrived here first and is intent on killing Tezzeret in what he believes to be self-defense.
There are a lot of time travel shenanigans in magic. Clockworking is the worst.
Test of Metal cover art
It is important to note here where everyone is coming from at this point in the story. It became clear over the course of the book that Tezzeret is no longer prone to the psychotic fits of rage that drove off Jace back in Agents of Artifice… but no one who knew him back then quite believes it. Nicol Bolas tampered with Tezzeret's mind and removed some of the less desirable qualities, which turns Tezzeret into more of a magnificent bastard rather than raging psychotic. Stripped of his etherium and anger issues, Tezzeret has become a sort of morally gray crazy prepared anti-villain. He's still not a good guy, but because of his prior behavior everything thinks he's coming to kill them.
This is also where Clockworking starts playing a major role. If it was just time manipulation, it would be fine. Instead, not only can clockworking alter time, it can pull things from alternate timelines or transport the clockworker to alternate timelines. This is specified as being distinct from planeswalking and regular chronomancy, and if it sounds like an incredibly overpowered ability that has a ton of storytelling problems, you'd be right. And both Silas Renn and Nicol Bolas are depicted as clockworkers. The frustrating part is that clockworking is entirely irrelevant to the plot, it could easily be substituted for any other kind of power and things could still happen the same way without being as confusing. The reason most people think this book has significant continuity problems? Because of clockworking, there's no way to tell if it even takes place in our version of the multiverse.
In any case, Tezzeret goes after Renn by mainlining sangrite powder (seriously), which supercharges his magical abilities, and through some improvisation manages to win the day and decapitate Renn. This does not actually kill Renn, of course, since everything but Renn's head, hands, feet, and groin are etherium. Baltrice clears the zombies with expert pyromancy, and Tezzeret creates a rig that allows him to use Renn's powers to a limited extent. He solves the maze by seeing future of every possible variation until he finds the solution. In the maze, he encounters Kemuel, the Hidden One, who imparts that his father (Crucius - in a bizarre time paradox) left him there to guard the gateway to his own personal realm: the Metal Island. It's a lonely island in the sea of a pocket plane made entirely of etherium, with a giant statue of Crucius himself front and center (later implied to be Crucius, along with the island itself). There is a catch, of course - the only way to reach his destination is to give up what draws him there (more or less, in a very sphinx-y fashion). Kemuel states that out of every 10,000 possibilities, Tezzeret only makes it there a handful of times, and never gets access to Crucius. The motherlode of etherium is at his fingertips, but to get there he cannot actually want it. Tezzeret spends a long time preparing himself (implied to be months or years, subjectively) and departs.
On the island, Tezzeret has godlike power. The entire framing story takes place here, which basically boils down to a long sequence where Bolas - who has arrived on the island as well - and Tezzeret have a power struggle, with the point of view chapters being Bolas delving into various people's minds (Baltrice shows up with an unconscious Jace, and Bolas brings Liliana to aid him). All the mind delving is a plot to get the device Tezzeret implanted in Jace into Bolas, and it works (because Bolas is not very smart in this novel, as Tezzeret himself points out)! Tezzeret effectively neuters Bolas while convincing him that they're not a threat to one another. He even offers to help Bolas, as it is clear that the dragon's power is slipping. In reality everything Tezzeret does on the island is a ploy to free himself from Bolas's influence (and by extension, Doctor Jest). He succeeds, but can't help but check on Bolas's implant. When he does, he learns that the Nicol Bolas he dealt with the whole time was nothing but a mana construct. As he suspected, the real Bolas would never risk himself or walk into Tezzeret's trap. Unfortunately for Tezzeret, reconnecting allows the true Bolas to re-implant Doctor Jest. Jest tells Tezzeret they have a new mission: Mirrodin.
This, of course, does not jive with Dark Discoveries, where Tezzeret has Etherium covering most of his body and needs a personal visit from Bolas to be forced to go to Mirrodin. From what I can tell (second-hand), an old Ask Brady column from the official forums confirmed that this change was to make it more clear in the visual medium of the comic. Kaladesh points to a Tezzeret more like his Agents of Artifice appearance, quick to anger, although only time will tell for sure. Breya, Etherium Shaper's story seems to further indicate that Test of Metal - at least in part - is no longer canon, as Breya has managed to create new Etherium without any of the hoops Tezzeret jumps through in the story. Feel free to safely ignore this novel, however some of Tezzeret's backstory (things that happen before the events of the novel) should still be fair game, and Magic's Creative team seems to favor retconning portions of stories, rather than the whole thing, and there's nothing to contradict Tezzeret's account of his youth.
Vronos is a DotP portrait that surged in popularity after his death.
Vronos art by Artist
A New Alara
- The Hunter Cannot Pity
- The Burying, Part 2
- The Stonekiller
- The Stonekiller, Part 2
- All the Cairns of Jund
In time, two other known planeswalkers happened upon this new Alara. The Inquisitor Vronos traveled to the shard of Esper on his first planeswalk, after nearly being killed on Innistrad. He met with a number of Vedalken scientists, whom he helped to study planeswalking in exchange for their knowledge. The scientists had learned of a planeswalker - the knight (which could refer to either Elsepeth or Gideon - or even someone new) - and wished to learn more, so they eagerly accepted the deal. He used their knowledge to construct for himself a filigree mask of etherium. After learning what he needed, he departed Alara and returned to Innistrad. Things... did not end well for Vronos, and his mask was claimed as a trophy by the corrupted Garruk. Other than Vronos, we know the young Gruul Domri Rade discovered Naya after his rite of passage ritual went horribly wrong. The young walker loves the new plane, and returns home to tell his friends about his experiences. Note that Domri's visit to Naya is not confirmed as post-Conflux, but this just seems like the most likely place for it to occur.
A young girl named Lia, too young to remember the chaos of the Conflux, lives in a small village in Eos, at the site of a castle ruined in the Conflux. Lia's has magic, magic that lets her destroy small stones, but her hands won't open and are perpetually clasped. Her village is near the border to Naya, and one day two hunters go missing. When Lia relates to her parents that she saw a Nacatl earlier in the day, they go to notify the village and Lia is kidnapped while they are gone. That night, cultists descend upon her village and kidnap everyone. At the direction of a cultist known as the Sculptor - a former Esper etherium sculptor - they're forced to build a bone monument to the Sculptor's master. The Nacatl who kidnapped Lia reveal themselves as Sunstrikers - warriors devoted to Ajani and dedicated to keeping his lands safe. The demon they are tracking has killed many of their number, and they observed Lia's skill at destroyed pebbles. They need her to destroy a key component of the ritual - a capstone upon which the monument relies. Lia agrees, and the lead Sunseeker, Nira, grants her a new warrior name: Kaa-Lia (Kaa meaning power). Kaalia succeeds in disrupting the ritual, but Nira and the Sunstrikers are killed in the process. Nira sacrifices herself to save Kaalia from the Sculptor. The sculptor perishes as well when a chasm opens up underneath the arena, and the demon Nefarox emerges. Kaalia vows to take revenge on the being who killed her family.
“I'll have my revenge if I have to call on every force from above and below”
Kaalia of the Vast by Michael Komarck
On Jund, Meren was once a prized disciple of the Circle of Nel Toth - the shamans of a Jund clan of humans. During her final test, required to pass her apprenticeship, she drinks dreamfire draught - a poison. Her test was to bond an elemental and let it use its power to cleanse her body of the poison. But Meren had never been adept at manipulating the life beat of Jund to fuel her magics, and the elemental recoiled at her touch. She had to fight to survive against it while the poison drained her strength, and she slowly lost the war of attrition. In her desperation, she snatches on to the counter-rhythm of death, and casts a green fire that eradicates the elemental. The elders, including her master, want to kill her for this abomination - until one of them points out that her test is not over until she has cleansed herself of the poison or died. They leave her to die alone with her dark magic.
But Meren does not die like they intended. She uses her new power to purge her system of the poison, and searches for years for a place where she can master her new power - a place away from the vibrant beats of life on Jund. She finds it in Grixis, and learns the art of necromancy there, becoming more powerful than her former shaman masters and the necromancers she learned from. She uses ancient magic to not only raise corpses, but to bind the soul of the dead to their bodies once more. She slaughters her way through her clan until she reaches her mentor for whom she has reserved a special death. Pulling out her magic blade, she calls down an undead dragon to devour her master. With her past behind her, she sets forth to raise all the dead dragons of Jund to her cause.
Thanks for reading! Alara is a surprisingly complex topic to write about, but when you consider it is essentially five planes in one things make more sense. I hope you enjoyed catching up on Alara, and I look forward to our inevitable return!
Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments or on the forum, and we will address it in future updates. Have a suggestion for something you want to see? Let us know, and we may address it in a future column. You can also follow me on twitter @Jay13x or Archive Trap Mini on Tumblr.
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