I'd rather not know where the binding really came from or who put it there (right now) as I'd like some mystery left in a lot of these worlds instead of finding out every thing about one after another, never to return, and getting some excuse like "a wizard did it"(or Bolas/Ugin/Urza/Jace five mind wipes ago).
so let me say this to tie it in: if this were the MCU, Ixalan would be Iron Man 3.Jace, Like Tony, is forced to survive without all of his "toys" and has to grow and adapt as a character separate of his superteam buddies. and the next storyarc (Dominaria) we're assuming is going to be centered around Ajani but feature a bunch of other major characters, a la Cap's WinterSoldier movie.
The fifth story card for Rivals would be a shot of Gideon slumped over sleeping in a chair at the Sanctum on Ravnica after Jace recounted his whole adventure to the Gatewatch.
"Where did I lose you?"
"Ummm, you built a raft..."
Do you guys think it could be possible that it was Bolas who left the sun one the plane instead of Ugin? The anti-planeswalking spell could just be a way to ensure it doesn't get moved without his approval.
I mean if that were the case why would Bolas send someone else to get it?
There's the possibility that he cast it before the mending and it's still sturdy enough that it'll lock post-mending Bolas in if he himself went inside. Considering how relatively panicky he was right after the mending at Amonkhet and his rather relaxed attitude towards Vraska, the Immortal Sun might not have been a priority to him (but if you have/find minions, might as well try and get it done anyway). Bolas has so many plans he probably only turns up at the ones he consider more important (Alara/Amonkhet) than not (Kaladesh/Ixalan).
This would actually mean that neither the Sun nor the City can actually enable planeswalking - Bolas never directly said it would anyway and if he really sends Tezzeret as the agent, it means the seal doesn't account for Planar Bridges and those still function normally for both planeswalkers and non-planeswalkers. I know people are anticipating Ral Zarek instead, but I think if it involves planar movement, Tezz is way more likely (Ral is more of cover-up, and even then specifically on a plane against another smart dragon in particular for the moment).
I would laugh if the Immortal Sun or the city didn’t grant one the ability to planeswalk away from Ixalan and Vraska’s mission, unknown to her, is to signal Ugin and get him trapped there.
I don’t think it’ll happen but it would be funny, especially seeing Vraska’s face when she realizes she’s been had.
There are many reasons why this won’t be the case, the most obvious being, why then would Vraska’s orders specifically require her to use the spell in the city, and secondly, Bolas did say he wanted the artifact I’m sure of it.
But I really wanna see Ugin again...
Private Mod Note
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Wizards. listen. The Vorthos community will await the consequences of the Eldrazi Titans' deaths/sealing. We will keep the watch.
“The wind whispers, ‘come home,’ but I cannot.”
— Teferi
There's the possibility that he cast it before the mending and it's still sturdy enough that it'll lock post-mending Bolas in if he himself went inside. Considering how relatively panicky he was right after the mending at Amonkhet and his rather relaxed attitude towards Vraska, the Immortal Sun might not have been a priority to him (but if you have/find minions, might as well try and get it done anyway). Bolas has so many plans he probably only turns up at the ones he consider more important (Alara/Amonkhet) than not (Kaladesh/Ixalan).
This would actually mean that neither the Sun nor the City can actually enable planeswalking - Bolas never directly said it would anyway and if he really sends Tezzeret as the agent, it means the seal doesn't account for Planar Bridges and those still function normally for both planeswalkers and non-planeswalkers. I know people are anticipating Ral Zarek instead, but I think if it involves planar movement, Tezz is way more likely (Ral is more of cover-up, and even then specifically on a plane against another smart dragon in particular for the moment).
It doesn't really seem like Bolas to create a lock that he doesn't have the key to. As for the importance, thats not really what its about. More so just expedience. At the end of HOD he told Tezz to get Ral to speed things along with whatever it is he is working on. So if Bolas is behind the sun to begin with he would presumably know where Orazca is too. So he could just walk in right there rather than sending someone else. And mind that he couldn't just tell Vraska how to get there he had to gove her a compass. A broken one at that. I think it points to Ugin, maybe as a prototype for Eldrazi imprisonment or trying to make a problematic Planeswalkers prison, or a third, yet unknown party.
It's nice that we subtly get an answer for why Huatli hasn't been indiscriminately killing everyone while defending her lands. Kudos to the story team for elegantly answering that question.
-More Vraska/Jace shipping and it does look like indeed Vraska dose like Jace more than a friend, but for now she just needs him as her friend.
-Huatli confirms that the Sun Empire knights don't kill but do give their foes to the dinosaurs to eat... and Vona is dead.
-Angrath and Huatli are teaming up...making me believe Huatli is going to try and steal Orazca/Immortal Sun for herself.
`Someones else guessed but it look like Orazca was hidden under the jungle and was raised by who ever got thier first. I guess we didn't see who raised it since that might be the element the geocatch thing changes with the story.
-Jace getting his memories back and funny to see he remember t he end of Dragons Maze with the race for Ixlana happening.
-That end art is of Jace is stunning I wish that had been the card art.
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“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Really? Really? Jace gets his memory back when he hits his head on a rock? That is literally the most cliché method they could have used. And the worst part is that it shouldn't have even worked. His mind was erased by Nicol Bolas. I don't think a concussion is going to fix that.
Besides that bit of stupidity, the story was fine.
Now Vraska is going to find out about Bolas wrecking the Gatewatch. She may actually join The Gatewatch if Jace keeps his same personality while gaining back his memories. Ixalan helped Jace grow as a more respectable and likable character. They would be stupid to rid us of that Jace. I'm mad the last Amonkhet story had eight stories and we only got seven for Ixalan. It's so many questions left hanging.
Angrath is RW for sure in the next set.
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"The essence of every world, every spell and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
Really? Really? Jace gets his memory back when he hits his head on a rock? That is literally the most cliché method they could have used. And the worst part is that it shouldn't have even worked. His mind was erased by Nicol Bolas. I don't think a concussion is going to fix that.
Besides that bit of stupidity, the story was fine.
I don't think Bolas wiped Jace's mind, only locked away his personal memories,and even then not entirely, as Jace kept whipping up illusions of people. Maybe it's less the head injury and more being close to a massive source of magic that is bring back his memories.
Also, all hands on deck, rocks and rough waters ahead.
One thing I'd like to point out is we don't know for sure Bolas was wiping Jaces mind, just mind killing and a side effect was Jace loosing his memories.
I'm mad the last Amonkhet story had eight stories and we only got seven for Ixalan. It's so many questions left hanging.
Might be to give creative some breathing room since we know we are getting some Unstable stories. One less story for Ixlana= a few stories for Unstable later on.
Angrath is RW for sure in the next set.
RW? Besides he screaming RB, why would they have two Boror walkers?
Private Mod Note
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“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
One thing I'd like to point out is we don't know for sure Bolas was wiping Jaces mind, just mind killing and a side effect was Jace loosing his memories.
I'm mad the last Amonkhet story had eight stories and we only got seven for Ixalan. It's so many questions left hanging.
Might be to give creative some breathing room since we know we are getting some Unstable stories. One less story for Ixlana= a few stories for Unstable later on.
Angrath is RW for sure in the next set.
RW? Besides he screaming RB, why would they have two Boror walkers?
Idk. I forgot Huatli was a thing. My bad.
Private Mod Note
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"The essence of every world, every spell and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Huatli confirms that the Sun Empire knights don't kill but do give their foes to the dinosaurs to eat... and Vona is dead.
From my reading, this isn't actually confirmed - Huatli left a disabled Vona behind while she summoned dinosaurs to eat her, but then immediately left. Vona was not killed "on screen" so to speak, so we can't definitively count Vona out of the race yet.
Maybe it's less the head injury and more being close to a massive source of magic that is bring back his memories.
That was also my interpretation - especially if we assume the Immortal Sun somehow resonates with planeswalkers.
By the way, Jace speculated that the Immortal Sun might be something that was brought to Ixalan - I'm willing to bet that's the writers telling us that this is an extraplanar artifact, and is definitely more fuel for the Ugin theory.
Really? Really? Jace gets his memory back when he hits his head on a rock? That is literally the most cliché method they could have used. And the worst part is that it shouldn't have even worked. His mind was erased by Nicol Bolas. I don't think a concussion is going to fix that.
Besides that bit of stupidity, the story was fine.
No, Bolas did not erase Jace's mind. He squeezed it:
Seconds you do not have, Bolas whispered inside his mind. The Multiverse only suffers fools briefly. A useful lesson, if you survive. The dragon held Jace's mind roughly, and squeezed.
Synapses crumbled. Pain blossomed. Insanity beckoned. A towering wave of darkness rose in the distance. Jace knew the crash of that wave meant dissolution. Mind-death.
Nothing to indicate that the mind-wipe and/or its duration was intentional as opposed to a side-effect of the psychic attack.
Finally got to finish the story since I'm at the office, and def enjoyed Ixalan's closing story. All the parts worked well and flowed, except for Angrath just showing up out of nowhere. I don't think Vona is dead just yet; Huatli calling a dino and then leaving without witnessing just smacks of reversed Bond villain move.
As for who found and raised Orazca first, I'm betting it was Kumena. He is the only one we haven't seen in the 'Race' yet, and had a bit of a head start, since he was on the move before any of the others. Overall, Ixalan was a great story line, and I'm hoping that Rivals is just as good.
I like that the writers temporarily toyed with us that Ixalan's binding symbol was related to Azor I. Either that was a purposeful red herring given the similarities or they're being blatant with their links. They even hinted at Niv Mizzet being the flying thing. I think it's definitely to push us off the Ugin theory.
I desperately need a story from Angrath's pov. This time he seemed much more thoughtful and collected than the first time we saw him.
Hualti earned a few points for owning Vona with her dino and then she lost them immediately when she didnt make sure she died. Sigh.
Also that cliffhanger was awesome. I am wondering if Jace will remember Vryn during all this. And how will he react when he realises Vraska is working for a dragon planeswalker named Nicholas. That ahould be interesting.
Nice story. I am surprised, And pleased, at how much I now like Vraska after all these stories. She has been a real highlight this set and hopefully that continues on a whole block scale. C'mon Jace, don't turn into an unlikable mess again after those memories return. We're all rooting for you.
Need more Angrath, how he feels loyal towards other planeswalker (or know they would be enticed to help him for the same reason), and so casually speak about killing everyone else. I mean, did he even realize that he might baffle the other person or does he believe everyone has hidden desire for violence?
Need more Angrath, how he feels loyal towards other planeswalker (or know they would be enticed to help him for the same reason), and so casually speak about killing everyone else. I mean, did he even realize that he might baffle the other person or does he believe everyone has hidden desire for violence?
Reasonably Angrath could simply assume that any planeswalker would be a foreigner like him, so killing everyone who gets in their way wouldn't be nearly as insane sounding.
Great story, betting Kumena was the one who raised the city. I dont think Vona’s out of the picture. I wonder if Mavren will show up to save her from the dino or if they’ll come to Orazca separately.
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My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
I like Angrath's straightforward approach, and how his assumptions about Huatli are as hilariously mistaken as hers are about the city she saw. Too bad he didn't figure out a way to spam planeswalking attempts to throw off the compass, though. But I guess that would be more of a U move.
Still loving the Jace+Vraska relationship. I like her line about his hair. I can definitely see soft hair seeming sexy and exotic to a gorgon.
As for the Noggin Whack fixing Jace's amnesia -- eh, it's a proven method. It worked on Archer, right?
My interpretation is that being near Orazca is what recovered Jace's memories. Still, that was lame to me. I was hoping he would be amnesic for a while. I really liked how his character was developing. They took an amazing plot point for Jace and ruined it with one swing. Really lame. I wanted him to be amnesic until either just before Vryn, or on Vryn. And then gradually regroup with the Gatewatch. There's still potential for his arc, but come on... not to mention that the focus right now should be the Planeswalkers literally being on Orazca's doorstep while also being a breath away from death. Got too crowded toward the end with no focus.
Otherwise, interesting. I do not think Vona is dead at all. I actually think she is the one who made it first. Kinda feel like they rushed into the discovery though. I like that the path to Orazca is enchanted to change. Still, there definitely should have been a third part to this story instead of cramming so much into only a part 2. The third part could focus on the wonder of Orazca's surrounding area, and all that, with a more suitable pace. That said, there's a whole mess of loose threads right now that I don't even know what to think.
I just love this lost city and Immortal Sun business. I hope Return to Theros takes a page out of Ixalan's theme with Arixmethes. Remember how Godsend was rumored to be in that city? Only it was with Elspeth?
The fifth story card for Rivals would be a shot of Gideon slumped over sleeping in a chair at the Sanctum on Ravnica after Jace recounted his whole adventure to the Gatewatch.
"Where did I lose you?"
"Ummm, you built a raft..."
Modern: (G/U)Infect (G/U)Tron
Legacy: (U/B)Tezzeret (U/B)(W/U)Miracles(W/U)(B/G)Dredge(R/W)
Commander:(U/R)Mizzix (U/R)(W/U)Sydri(U/B)(W/U)Zur(U/B)
There's the possibility that he cast it before the mending and it's still sturdy enough that it'll lock post-mending Bolas in if he himself went inside. Considering how relatively panicky he was right after the mending at Amonkhet and his rather relaxed attitude towards Vraska, the Immortal Sun might not have been a priority to him (but if you have/find minions, might as well try and get it done anyway). Bolas has so many plans he probably only turns up at the ones he consider more important (Alara/Amonkhet) than not (Kaladesh/Ixalan).
This would actually mean that neither the Sun nor the City can actually enable planeswalking - Bolas never directly said it would anyway and if he really sends Tezzeret as the agent, it means the seal doesn't account for Planar Bridges and those still function normally for both planeswalkers and non-planeswalkers. I know people are anticipating Ral Zarek instead, but I think if it involves planar movement, Tezz is way more likely (Ral is more of cover-up, and even then specifically on a plane against another smart dragon in particular for the moment).
I don’t think it’ll happen but it would be funny, especially seeing Vraska’s face when she realizes she’s been had.
There are many reasons why this won’t be the case, the most obvious being, why then would Vraska’s orders specifically require her to use the spell in the city, and secondly, Bolas did say he wanted the artifact I’m sure of it.
But I really wanna see Ugin again...
The Vorthos community will await the consequences of the Eldrazi Titans' deaths/sealing. We will keep the watch.
“The wind whispers, ‘come home,’ but I cannot.”
— Teferi
It doesn't really seem like Bolas to create a lock that he doesn't have the key to. As for the importance, thats not really what its about. More so just expedience. At the end of HOD he told Tezz to get Ral to speed things along with whatever it is he is working on. So if Bolas is behind the sun to begin with he would presumably know where Orazca is too. So he could just walk in right there rather than sending someone else. And mind that he couldn't just tell Vraska how to get there he had to gove her a compass. A broken one at that. I think it points to Ugin, maybe as a prototype for Eldrazi imprisonment or trying to make a problematic Planeswalkers prison, or a third, yet unknown party.
-More Vraska/Jace shipping and it does look like indeed Vraska dose like Jace more than a friend, but for now she just needs him as her friend.
-Huatli confirms that the Sun Empire knights don't kill but do give their foes to the dinosaurs to eat... and Vona is dead.
-Angrath and Huatli are teaming up...making me believe Huatli is going to try and steal Orazca/Immortal Sun for herself.
`Someones else guessed but it look like Orazca was hidden under the jungle and was raised by who ever got thier first. I guess we didn't see who raised it since that might be the element the geocatch thing changes with the story.
-Jace getting his memories back and funny to see he remember t he end of Dragons Maze with the race for Ixlana happening.
-That end art is of Jace is stunning I wish that had been the card art.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Besides that bit of stupidity, the story was fine.
Now Vraska is going to find out about Bolas wrecking the Gatewatch. She may actually join The Gatewatch if Jace keeps his same personality while gaining back his memories. Ixalan helped Jace grow as a more respectable and likable character. They would be stupid to rid us of that Jace. I'm mad the last Amonkhet story had eight stories and we only got seven for Ixalan. It's so many questions left hanging.
Angrath is RW for sure in the next set.
Also, all hands on deck, rocks and rough waters ahead.
Might be to give creative some breathing room since we know we are getting some Unstable stories. One less story for Ixlana= a few stories for Unstable later on.
RW? Besides he screaming RB, why would they have two Boror walkers?
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Idk. I forgot Huatli was a thing. My bad.
From my reading, this isn't actually confirmed - Huatli left a disabled Vona behind while she summoned dinosaurs to eat her, but then immediately left. Vona was not killed "on screen" so to speak, so we can't definitively count Vona out of the race yet.
That was also my interpretation - especially if we assume the Immortal Sun somehow resonates with planeswalkers.
By the way, Jace speculated that the Immortal Sun might be something that was brought to Ixalan - I'm willing to bet that's the writers telling us that this is an extraplanar artifact, and is definitely more fuel for the Ugin theory.
No, Bolas did not erase Jace's mind. He squeezed it:
Seconds you do not have, Bolas whispered inside his mind. The Multiverse only suffers fools briefly. A useful lesson, if you survive. The dragon held Jace's mind roughly, and squeezed.
Synapses crumbled. Pain blossomed. Insanity beckoned. A towering wave of darkness rose in the distance. Jace knew the crash of that wave meant dissolution. Mind-death.
Nothing to indicate that the mind-wipe and/or its duration was intentional as opposed to a side-effect of the psychic attack.
As for who found and raised Orazca first, I'm betting it was Kumena. He is the only one we haven't seen in the 'Race' yet, and had a bit of a head start, since he was on the move before any of the others. Overall, Ixalan was a great story line, and I'm hoping that Rivals is just as good.
Click the pic for more info.
Modern:R 8Whack R|W White Knights W
Huatli: Wait wha-
Angrath: AND WE ARE GOING TO KILL EVERYONE ELSE!
I desperately need a story from Angrath's pov. This time he seemed much more thoughtful and collected than the first time we saw him.
Hualti earned a few points for owning Vona with her dino and then she lost them immediately when she didnt make sure she died. Sigh.
Also that cliffhanger was awesome. I am wondering if Jace will remember Vryn during all this. And how will he react when he realises Vraska is working for a dragon planeswalker named Nicholas. That ahould be interesting.
UBarrin, Master WizardU
USticher GeralfU
UIxidor, Reality SculptorU
UWNoyan Dar, Roil ShaperUW
Swamp
Colossal Dreadmaw
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
Still loving the Jace+Vraska relationship. I like her line about his hair. I can definitely see soft hair seeming sexy and exotic to a gorgon.
As for the Noggin Whack fixing Jace's amnesia -- eh, it's a proven method. It worked on Archer, right?
Otherwise, interesting. I do not think Vona is dead at all. I actually think she is the one who made it first. Kinda feel like they rushed into the discovery though. I like that the path to Orazca is enchanted to change. Still, there definitely should have been a third part to this story instead of cramming so much into only a part 2. The third part could focus on the wonder of Orazca's surrounding area, and all that, with a more suitable pace. That said, there's a whole mess of loose threads right now that I don't even know what to think.
I just love this lost city and Immortal Sun business. I hope Return to Theros takes a page out of Ixalan's theme with Arixmethes. Remember how Godsend was rumored to be in that city? Only it was with Elspeth?
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||