Haven't read the book but presumably Teferi did nothing correct? So he is on the gatewatch has a connection to Bolas and he is just on the team for what diversity brownie points? I don't have a problem with diversity in magic for the record I do have a problem though with faux diversity where we had diversity to the team and then have those characters do nothing of note. Made even worse when said characters is more powerful and has more experience then all the rest put together.
Wasn't Jeska on Dominaria when she expired? While Gideon is not on the right plane with the right afterlife... Is it explicitly wrote down that it is an allucination of the last sparks of elettricity in Gid's brain?
So... Ral was NOT working directly for Bolas... Then the end of the Amonkhet story is proclaimed retconned?
So either: LOTR (nobody really dies) or Game of Thrones (everbodies dying) extremes? I again would have liked Harry Potter stakes. Lots of Secondary/Main characters died/maimed/hurt in the huge stakes of defeating Voldemort and it was VERY impactful.
The fact Ixalan block story is basically just forgotten.
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Been a member here for over a dozen years. Playing since '95 just got lost in the twitch shuffle.
Wasn't Jeska on Dominaria when she expired? While Gideon is not on the right plane with the right afterlife... Is it explicitly wrote down that it is an allucination of the last sparks of elettricity in Gid's brain?
So... Ral was NOT working directly for Bolas... Then the end of the Amonkhet story is proclaimed retconned?
The book very clearly states Ral WAS working for Bolas, had been for a while, but defected when he realized what Bolas' ends were.
Another issue I might add is that: Because Ravnica is part of this large wheel that gets spun to see where we land on next, we don't sit on a plane longer than we have to. That instead of us getting to learn about many minor planeswalker characters in the lore and then those characters dying to the elderspell, we instead just see a wispy spark with what might as well have a number attached to it like 'Planeswalker Spark #1333', which doesn't matter to the average person. Its also a hurdle in writing stories that the greater the devastation the harder it is for the average person to wrap their mind around the very concept. Sure a planet could be blown up with millions on it, that it might elicit some emotional response, but its not going to be as hard felt as something that hits closer to home.
To give a perfect example the set has provided: 1000 Nameless Planeswalkers Vs 1 Dack Fayden.
As consider that while there are deaths in the thousands, you and me are not really attached to another nobody dying that makes up a statistic. But what clearly struck a cord with people was Dack Fayden dying. A character that only people who read the comics, played legacy, played vintage would even known.
See, I don't see that as an issue, as much as what is often effective storytelling when making a series.
Once again, look at the Lord of the Rings books (and movies, I suppose). We only single two major characters actually die. Boromir, and Theoden. That's it. Throughout the entire series, with major battle during intense warfare where people are dying all around the protagonists, only a pair of them die.
Why so few?
Because in these longer stories, especially ones involving war, you can show many people dying in the background, and the stakes might not seem as high to start with. Then someone important dies in a major battle. Theoden. Dack. That pulls you into the moment of seeing someone you recognize die, and also highlighting that oh $%#!&, all those other people in the background are dying, too. Here's someone who's story we DO know paying the ultimate cost. Well, all those other people who have full lives and stories we'll never get to hear also had their life snuffed out.
Killing a Domri to make the stakes of spark harvesting being lethal puts the ball in motion.
Warfare going on with untold numbers dying pulls attention to the background.
Sparks flying to the Elderspell shows you that a disturbingly large number of planeswalkers whose stories we do not, and will now never know, are also dying, just like Domri.
Dack dying pulls it into focus that this means anyone we know could also die.
Now the sparks flying in the background have more meaning, because Dack made it apparent that damn, these people are also planeswalkers, who have wandered the multiverse on their own adventures, within their own story, and their lives are being snuffed out left and right, and we can actually physically SEE the essence of their lives flying toward this threat, Bolas, powering the spell.
Just like seeing someone like Theoden dies puts the stakes of all the nameless soldiers and knights perishing in this terrible war who we've never met, and will never know, into focus. Theodon shows that any one of the people in this war can die.
Gideon pays the ultimate price by sacrificing himself to try to save those he cares about, showing that even the heroes, the protagonists, had their lives at stake in this.
Boromir pays the ultimate price by sacrificing himself to try to let the Fellowship escape, showing that even the heroes, the protagonists, had their lives at stake in this.
See, all the planeswalkers put on cards?
Those are the centers of the story, and it's a loooooong, ongoing story, like a major serial. So like Avatar, the Last Airbender types of long-term storytelling, battles in ongoing warfare going on all around the whole time. Yet, with basically none of the protagonists themselves dying. Not even many of the side characters.
Because as the story ends, we, the reader, the viewer, see that these were the people whose story we were seeing the entire time, possibly being told by them, individually or collectively, in the aftermath.
The planeswalkers we see in print are, by and large, the major focal points of the narrative. Some will die here and there, but on the whole, as with the vast majority of long-term storytelling serials, overwhelmingly they will not. Yet, the background characters, including the unnamed, can quite ably show stakes.
It seems to me that an awful lot of people are, in the current time we're in, used to absurdly high-stakes narratives like The Walking Dead and A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones), which are extreme outliers all said and done, are the best way to show stakes. When that is demonstrably not remotely close to the case.
So, much like a lot of ongoing narratives at the moment, it seems an awful lot of people built narratives up in their head tremendously. And of course, as is virtually always the case, those narratives will not be matched by the narratives that tend to be told on the page or on screen, save in those extreme outliers like a Song of Ice and Fire.
But the very fact that many, many, many planeswalker sparks are portrayed as flying to power the Elderspell means an awful lot of people on par with the 35 planeswalkers printed in the set who survived whose stories we've never heard, died in this war. Meaning Bolas largely carried through with his threat, and had he not been beaten, it would have ended extremely poorly for the Multiverse. Those are stakes. It's ok to not like how the story was told, but the consistent assertions that there were no stakes, or that the stakes mostly being shown by off-screen deaths of the unknown is "wrong" or "bad storytelling" demonstrably flies in the face of some of the greatest narratives of this type ever written. Where the protagonists survive these horrors as others do not, save the day or simply survive to the end, yet the stakes remained there the whole time. While the Magic narrative is relatively middle-of-the-road and not particularly special, all said, the decision to only kill off a handful of protagonists while killing off scores of powerful people in the background, does not a low-stakes narrative make.
Excuse me, I was talking about minor characters and how their death actually meant something compared to a statistic and how the average person cares more about that. Best case scenario, the sparks are the equivalent of the backup for Dack Fayden who is the equivalent of the main singer. They only exist to emphasis something to the audience and nothing more.
Haven't read the book but presumably Teferi did nothing correct? So he is on the gatewatch has a connection to Bolas and he is just on the team for what diversity brownie points? I don't have a problem with diversity in magic for the record I do have a problem though with faux diversity where we had diversity to the team and then have those characters do nothing of note. Made even worse when said characters is more powerful and has more experience then all the rest put together.
Oh goodie, you're on this bent again.
If you actually read the book, you'll see that Teferi, while not a focal point character, basically saves half the Planeswalkers butts at times thanks to his time manipulation. So no, he doesn't have any incredibly huge moments, but he certainly plays a factor in helping other Planeswalkers stay alive.
He also WAS set to be one of the lynchpins of Plan A, until the portal opening completely screwed everything up.
Wasn't Jeska on Dominaria when she expired? While Gideon is not on the right plane with the right afterlife... Is it explicitly wrote down that it is an allucination of the last sparks of elettricity in Gid's brain?
So... Ral was NOT working directly for Bolas... Then the end of the Amonkhet story is proclaimed retconned?
The book very clearly states Ral WAS working for Bolas, had been for a while, but defected when he realized what Bolas' ends were.
I think the biggest downer of the book is there's really no "darkest hour" moment. The closest was the Elderspell being cast, and suddenly dozens of planeswalkers get massacred in about fifteen minutes (feel like the scene would resonate a LOT more in a movie than it did in the book) I suppose the Blackblade shattering might count if we hadn't already knew the ending.
But the Invasion cycle (the last great MTG war) we seriously had a few moments where it got bleak. The assault on Benalia, the scene in Llanowar where they're running into the dream caves with plague bombs raining overhead and bodies flying past, the Keldon Twilight, Urza and Gerrard's defection, Yawgmoth's death cloud, the moon gambit's failure. There were some serious moments where all hope was pretty much lost. That never really happened in WAR
I personally feel the perfect comparison to War of the Spark is Journey into Nyx.
Consider if you will both Nyx and War are the third set. Both feature the death of a and of a planeswalker. Both are treated as the climax to defeating an arrogant self-made god with Xenagos and Nicol Bolas. That Ajani is present in the story for both the death of Elspeth and the death of Gideon. That both Domri and Xenagos engaged in a destructive revelry and are both usurpers of power. That both Elspeth and Gideon are heroes of Theros who thwart the plans of the god. That the antagonistic god Heliod/Nicol Bolas who caused the death of the Theros hero still lives at the end of the day. That both Elspeth and Gideon went to a Theros-styled afterlife. That both Elspeth and Gideon tried to use a legendary weapon to slay a god. That also Ashiok features in both storylines and gets a planeswalker card in both. That Dack Fayden in both storylines is not on a single card but instead on an external piece of reading material Comic/Novel.
TLDR: War is Nyx 2: Planeswalker Boogaloo. Change my mind.
That actually makes a lot of sense gj sir
Also on the story, I didn’t readed it but does teferi and tamiyo have any dialogue or thoughts on bolas? Like kamigawa was suposed to have been ravaged by a oldwalker bolas, and teferi was fundamental on bolas ressurection. And the same can be said about samut, but she had been featured in the last 2 years so people know more about her.
Did those characters had any inpactifull moments or had them shown to know bolas or they played the 500 yearold mage that don’t know a simple spell?
Haven't read the book but presumably Teferi did nothing correct? So he is on the gatewatch has a connection to Bolas and he is just on the team for what diversity brownie points? I don't have a problem with diversity in magic for the record I do have a problem though with faux diversity where we had diversity to the team and then have those characters do nothing of note. Made even worse when said characters is more powerful and has more experience then all the rest put together.
Oh goodie, you're on this bent again.
If you actually read the book, you'll see that Teferi, while not a focal point character, basically saves half the Planeswalkers butts at times thanks to his time manipulation. So no, he doesn't have any incredibly huge moments, but he certainly plays a factor in helping other Planeswalkers stay alive.
He also WAS set to be one of the lynchpins of Plan A, until the portal opening completely screwed everything up.
To add on, Teferi wasn't a main fighter but he was cast time magic all over the eternals. First part he was doing on the portal slowing down how fast the army could enter Ravnica and when the elder spell is cast, we find out the eternals only need get a solid grip on a walker to drain them. Teferi time magic slowed the eternals down at key moments giving many walkers the seconds they needed to get away or to take out an eternal. Teferi was also a part of a plan to kill Liliana, which fail due to Bolas blowing up the building they where one, which Teferi had fall in slow motions so he and the other 3 walkers could get down safe. Jace says it and I agree, Teferi probity is the walker who saved the most lives during the war due to his magic.
Wasn't Jeska on Dominaria when she expired? While Gideon is not on the right plane with the right afterlife... Is it explicitly wrote down that it is an allucination of the last sparks of elettricity in Gid's brain?
So... Ral was NOT working directly for Bolas... Then the end of the Amonkhet story is proclaimed retconned?
The book very clearly states Ral WAS working for Bolas, had been for a while, but defected when he realized what Bolas' ends were.
Okay, I was misled by the "planted idea". Thanks.
To clarify, Niv and Ral thought they had the idea to make the beacon and call to other walkers for help, but Bolas had come up with it and put it into Niv and Rals thoughts in order for them to build it thinking they could use it against him.
“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"
Has Vraska regained her memories? What happened between her and Jace?
Vraska got her memories before the book starts, we don't actually find out the details because it was supposed to be explained in the prequel novella that still hasn't come out. Her and Jace get together in the end.
Haven't read the book but presumably Teferi did nothing correct? So he is on the gatewatch has a connection to Bolas and he is just on the team for what diversity brownie points? I don't have a problem with diversity in magic for the record I do have a problem though with faux diversity where we had diversity to the team and then have those characters do nothing of note. Made even worse when said characters is more powerful and has more experience then all the rest put together.
Teferi does a lot of fighting. It was mentioned that he was using his time magic to slow down time right at the entrance of the Planar Portal and may have saved more lives than anyone else by delaying the Eternals' advance so much.
He was also part of the team that attempted to kill Liliana, along with Jaya, Jace, and Vivien. He slowed down time around Lili to prevent her from reacting while the other three attacked her with fire, mindblasts, and arrows. Lili only survived because Bolas intervened on her behalf and destroyed the buildings they were sniping her from.
Teferi wasn't as instrumental in Bolas' defeat as Gideon, Liliana, or Niv Mizzet, but aside from those three, he probably had the single biggest impact of all the heroes.
Wasn't Jeska on Dominaria when she expired? While Gideon is not on the right plane with the right afterlife... Is it explicitly wrote down that it is an allucination of the last sparks of elettricity in Gid's brain?
So... Ral was NOT working directly for Bolas... Then the end of the Amonkhet story is proclaimed retconned?
There's just a brief scene of Gideon being reunited with his companions, with no explicit confirmation on whether it was the Theros afterlife or if it was Gideon's dying hallucination. (The story team may have deliberately wanted to leave it ambiguous, it's never been established what happened to planeswalkers' souls after they die. Elspeth went to the Theros afterlife but that was because of her deal with Erebos, not necessarily just because she was on Theros when she died.)
As for Ral, he was working for Bolas, it just turned out that he was a triple agent who was actually loyal to Niv the whole time. But Bolas was also aware of Ral's true loyalties, which is how he was able to manipulate Ral into activating the beacon. To make things even more complicated, Niv knew that Bolas knew, and had secretly been working with Ugin to outmaneuver Bolas from the very start.
As for Ral, he was working for Bolas, it just turned out that he was a triple agent who was actually loyal to Niv the whole time. But Bolas was also aware of Ral's true loyalties, which is how he was able to manipulate Ral into activating the beacon. To make things even more complicated, Niv knew that Bolas knew, and had secretly been working with Ugin to outmaneuver Bolas from the very start.
Ok I just read the book. I think a lot was lost without the Prequel. There was so much story we missed. The attempted Niv Mizzet ascension and death; the lighting of the Beacon; Vraska getting her memories back and then betraying them; Kaya killing the Obzedat and taking their debts; etc.
Overall I think the story was very satisfying. All of the POV walkers had good moments. There were several satisfying arcs with Dack, Liliana, Teyo, and Gideon. I like how their was progressive tasks that were needed to stop Bolas to fill out the 2nd Act, and yet it was still difficult to beat Bolas. The careful machinations of Ugin. How Bolas laughed at how he tricked the walkers, and didn't realize that Liliana was slowly gaining the courage to sacrifice herself.
As for the aftermath, I like it. We have some interesting plot-hooks hunting down the remaining Bolas Aligned walkers. Vraska hunting a blind foe, Ral hunting Tezzeret as a fellow scientist of sorts, and then Kaya the death killer vs Liliana the necromancer. Liliana has a lot of potential now. She is hated by most of the current walkers adding inherent conflict when she appears. There is internal tension in the gatewatch with their complicated history with Liliana. And she has her own internal conflicts with her sacrifice and Gideon sacrificing himself for her. Plus you have the Onakke and Raven Man.
The other 2 don't have a major plot hook aside from Tezzeret and New Phyrexia. But now each can branch out into their own plots. And you still have Ob Nixilis who also disappeared to plot.
Another strong moment was seeing the various complex interactions. The various Ravnican walkers, Angrath with Arlinn and Huatli, Dack with Nixilis and the others, etc. Apparently Kiora seems to be part of Tamiyo's story circle, which actually makes some sense.
Finally a shoutout to my man Sarkhan. He played a key role at points and Ugin points out that Bolas pissed him off a lot. He also apparently has a history with the Wanderer who is almost definitely not Elspeth.
As for Ral, he was working for Bolas, it just turned out that he was a triple agent who was actually loyal to Niv the whole time. But Bolas was also aware of Ral's true loyalties, which is how he was able to manipulate Ral into activating the beacon. To make things even more complicated, Niv knew that Bolas knew, and had secretly been working with Ugin to outmaneuver Bolas from the very start.
As for Ral, he was working for Bolas, it just turned out that he was a triple agent who was actually loyal to Niv the whole time. But Bolas was also aware of Ral's true loyalties, which is how he was able to manipulate Ral into activating the beacon. To make things even more complicated, Niv knew that Bolas knew, and had secretly been working with Ugin to outmaneuver Bolas from the very start.
rofl ok...
Given Ugin, Bolas, and Niv that sounds pretty par for the course. If people don't want manipulation and wheels within wheels kind of plans then getting upset Bolas lost is kind of silly.
Ok I just read the book. I think a lot was lost without the Prequel. There was so much story we missed. The attempted Niv Mizzet ascension and death; the lighting of the Beacon; Vraska getting her memories back and then betraying them; Kaya killing the Obzedat and taking their debts; etc.
Overall I think the story was very satisfying. All of the POV walkers had good moments. There were several satisfying arcs with Dack, Liliana, Teyo, and Gideon. I like how their was progressive tasks that were needed to stop Bolas to fill out the 2nd Act, and yet it was still difficult to beat Bolas. The careful machinations of Ugin. How Bolas laughed at how he tricked the walkers, and didn't realize that Liliana was slowly gaining the courage to sacrifice herself.
As for the aftermath, I like it. We have some interesting plot-hooks hunting down the remaining Bolas Aligned walkers. Vraska hunting a blind foe, Ral hunting Tezzeret as a fellow scientist of sorts, and then Kaya the death killer vs Liliana the necromancer. Liliana has a lot of potential now. She is hated by most of the current walkers adding inherent conflict when she appears. There is internal tension in the gatewatch with their complicated history with Liliana. And she has her own internal conflicts with her sacrifice and Gideon sacrificing himself for her. Plus you have the Onakke and Raven Man.
The other 2 don't have a major plot hook aside from Tezzeret and New Phyrexia. But now each can branch out into their own plots. And you still have Ob Nixilis who also disappeared to plot.
Another strong moment was seeing the various complex interactions. The various Ravnican walkers, Angrath with Arlinn and Huatli, Dack with Nixilis and the others, etc. Apparently Kiora seems to be part of Tamiyo's story circle, which actually makes some sense.
Finally a shoutout to my man Sarkhan. He played a key role at points and Ugin points out that Bolas pissed him off a lot. He also apparently has a history with the Wanderer who is almost definitely not Elspeth.
So, what exactly WAS the deal with Angrath? Was he actually on Bolas' side, or was he just commandeering eternals and running amok all on his own, like some here speculated? (Or did the implications of his card have literally no basis in story?)
And he reunited with Huatli? And teamed up with wolfmom?
So, what exactly WAS the deal with Angrath? Was he actually on Bolas' side, or was he just commandeering eternals and running amok all on his own, like some here speculated? (Or did the implications of his card have literally no basis in story?)
Angrath was anti-Bolas and we don't see if Angrath takes control. Maro mentioned that most of the planeswalkers cards where made with their abilities first and then later matched wth a character, they wanted the black/red planeswalker to have amass for game play reasons and Angrath was the only red/black they had.
And he reunited with Huatli? And teamed up with wolfmom?
Yes and has a wholesome dad chat with Teyo.
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So, what exactly WAS the deal with Angrath? Was he actually on Bolas' side, or was he just commandeering eternals and running amok all on his own, like some here speculated? (Or did the implications of his card have literally no basis in story?)
Angrath was anti-Bolas and we don't see if Angrath takes control. Maro mentioned that most of the planeswalkers cards where made with their abilities first and then later matched wth a character, they wanted the black/red planeswalker to have amass for game play reasons and Angrath was the only red/black they had.
Angrath was pretty awesome, especially before he went hunting Eternals with Huatli. His speech like "well, I am trapped for the second time by this stupid thing, and I just want to go home to my daughters and kick this dragon's minions ass. Just show me what to hit."
Some musings:
-Sorin and Nahiri are mentioned like twice, once fighting together, once fighting against Eternals (their quarrel forgotten for time being). Because the book is written from several POVs and not an omniscient narrator, this makes sense.
- a certain thing revealed about Ral Zarek is...surprising.
- I quite liked the writing, it fits the chosen way of telling the story (the limited POV of characters)
- plenty of walkers are just cameoing without even speaking (Narset, Tamiyo), Tibalt is mentioned once, Ashiok not at all. But there is Mu Yanling, who does not have a card in the set.
- Mowu can "transform" from the cute puppy into a big, three-tailed dog.
- team-up of Karn, Samut, Dack, Nixilis and Sarkhan to destroy the Planar Bridge on Amonkhet is great.
- Dack actually has a great arc and lots of action before dying, and his POVs including his passing are well-written. His death is unfornutate, and indirectly caused by the intentional reactivation of the Sun by the allies, so that Bolas cannot escape. It comes in a critical moment for Dack, because he would be able to planeswalk from the Eternal's grip.
- Davriel actually fights a bit.
- we do not learn much about The Wanderer.
- what is a little annoying is having to wait for the prequel stories, because the book starts immediately after their conclusion.
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Meh so i see there still forgetting Teferi knows more then Time Magic. Meanwhile Rat apparently can use whatever magic she wants...that makes total sense. The street girl with no formal training knows more forms of magic then the guy over millennium old trained at the greatest school of magic in the multiverse.
So, what exactly WAS the deal with Angrath? Was he actually on Bolas' side, or was he just commandeering eternals and running amok all on his own, like some here speculated? (Or did the implications of his card have literally no basis in story?)
Angrath was anti-Bolas and we don't see if Angrath takes control. Maro mentioned that most of the planeswalkers cards where made with their abilities first and then later matched wth a character, they wanted the black/red planeswalker to have amass for game play reasons and Angrath was the only red/black they had.
Angrath was pretty awesome, especially before he went hunting Eternals with Huatli. His speech like "well, I am trapped for the second time by this stupid thing, and I just want to go home to my daughters and kick this dragon's minions ass. Just show me what to hit."
I also like we saw a bit more of how a...neutral? Angrath is, when he isn't in a murder rage and wanting to just destroy everything.
Some musings:
-Sorin and Nahiri are mentioned like twice, once fighting together, once fighting against Eternals (their quarrel forgotten for time being). Because the book is written from several POVs and not an omniscient narrator, this makes sense.
- a certain thing revealed about Ral Zarek is...surprising.
- I quite liked the writing, it fits the chosen way of telling the story (the limited POV of characters)
- plenty of walkers are just cameoing without even speaking (Narset, Tamiyo), Tibalt is mentioned once, Ashiok not at all. But there is Mu Yanling, who does not have a card in the set.
- Mowu can "transform" from the cute puppy into a big, three-tailed dog.
- team-up of Karn, Samut, Dack, Nixilis and Sarkhan to destroy the Planar Bridge on Amonkhet is great.
- Dack actually has a great arc and lots of action before dying, and his POVs including his passing are well-written. His death is unfornutate, and indirectly caused by the intentional reactivation of the Sun by the allies, so that Bolas cannot escape. It comes in a critical moment for Dack, because he would be able to planeswalk from the Eternal's grip.
- Davriel actually fights a bit.
- we do not learn much about The Wanderer.
- what is a little annoying is having to wait for the prequel stories, because the book starts immediately after their conclusion.
Nahiri-I also noticed Nahiri was at the war counsel when they had gathered all the walkers and guild members to figure out what to do
Ral-I love it and idk if intentional but I like the symbolism of him not wanting to be outed as a planeswalker as well as the couple being on the DL since they are high ranking members of different guilds. Its also cute of each of them has a ribbon of the others clothing around their wrists.
Cameo and missing walkers- we are getting web fiction from Rat POV (Love her she is now on the list of characters I wanna see on a card) so I hope at least we get to see the walkers who didn't get a lot of screen time. I do wonder why Kasmina was made if yangling was gonna be in the story. Maro mentioned they have plans for Yangling in the view of Garruk so maybe she's gonna get a storyline soon?
Walker team up- Honesty this was one of my favorite parts of the book, seeing all the walkers fighting together and seeing their differt magics on opponents they didn't need to hold back on. Davriel was pretty badass in his fight, loved that part where he stole the elder spell out of an eternal to stop it. I also just loved the Wanderer asking Gideon to punch her. Glad to see she seem to be popular, I love to know and see more of the Wanderer.
Dack- Yea he got a great last arc. The dramatic irony of his statements through the book got to me too. His death was also a bit of a shock, I know it was coming, but like Dack, I like how we thought it was him being saved like he had just before hand or to realize he was trapped and being harvested.
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"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Meh so i see there still forgetting Teferi knows more then Time Magic. Meanwhile Rat apparently can use whatever magic she wants...that makes total sense. The street girl with no formal training knows more forms of magic then the guy over millennium old trained at the greatest school of magic in the multiverse.
Time Magic is kind of Teferi's thing. Doesn't mean he can't use other magic. Do you want to point to specific points in the novel where he should have used something else? Otherwise your complaints are hollow.
I'm wanting to buy the book; does the end of the book give any hints on where the story goes from here or is that up in the air?
'buster
It is pretty clear where one arc will go, specially now that we know the tittle of the following book "War of the spark: forsaken", quite obvious what is going to be about after the end of nicol bolas.
I'm wanting to buy the book; does the end of the book give any hints on where the story goes from here or is that up in the air?
'buster
It setups plot point for Liliana, which has already discussed in this thread. Also we still have Karn's story with Phyrexia. Personal guess is 2020 or new plane after that being a follow-up to Liliana's story.
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So... Ral was NOT working directly for Bolas... Then the end of the Amonkhet story is proclaimed retconned?
The fact Ixalan block story is basically just forgotten.
The book very clearly states Ral WAS working for Bolas, had been for a while, but defected when he realized what Bolas' ends were.
Oh goodie, you're on this bent again.
If you actually read the book, you'll see that Teferi, while not a focal point character, basically saves half the Planeswalkers butts at times thanks to his time manipulation. So no, he doesn't have any incredibly huge moments, but he certainly plays a factor in helping other Planeswalkers stay alive.
He also WAS set to be one of the lynchpins of Plan A, until the portal opening completely screwed everything up.
Okay, I was misled by the "planted idea". Thanks.
But the Invasion cycle (the last great MTG war) we seriously had a few moments where it got bleak. The assault on Benalia, the scene in Llanowar where they're running into the dream caves with plague bombs raining overhead and bodies flying past, the Keldon Twilight, Urza and Gerrard's defection, Yawgmoth's death cloud, the moon gambit's failure. There were some serious moments where all hope was pretty much lost. That never really happened in WAR
That actually makes a lot of sense gj sir
Also on the story, I didn’t readed it but does teferi and tamiyo have any dialogue or thoughts on bolas? Like kamigawa was suposed to have been ravaged by a oldwalker bolas, and teferi was fundamental on bolas ressurection. And the same can be said about samut, but she had been featured in the last 2 years so people know more about her.
Did those characters had any inpactifull moments or had them shown to know bolas or they played the 500 yearold mage that don’t know a simple spell?
To add on, Teferi wasn't a main fighter but he was cast time magic all over the eternals. First part he was doing on the portal slowing down how fast the army could enter Ravnica and when the elder spell is cast, we find out the eternals only need get a solid grip on a walker to drain them. Teferi time magic slowed the eternals down at key moments giving many walkers the seconds they needed to get away or to take out an eternal. Teferi was also a part of a plan to kill Liliana, which fail due to Bolas blowing up the building they where one, which Teferi had fall in slow motions so he and the other 3 walkers could get down safe. Jace says it and I agree, Teferi probity is the walker who saved the most lives during the war due to his magic.
edit
To clarify, Niv and Ral thought they had the idea to make the beacon and call to other walkers for help, but Bolas had come up with it and put it into Niv and Rals thoughts in order for them to build it thinking they could use it against him.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Vraska got her memories before the book starts, we don't actually find out the details because it was supposed to be explained in the prequel novella that still hasn't come out. Her and Jace get together in the end.
Teferi does a lot of fighting. It was mentioned that he was using his time magic to slow down time right at the entrance of the Planar Portal and may have saved more lives than anyone else by delaying the Eternals' advance so much.
He was also part of the team that attempted to kill Liliana, along with Jaya, Jace, and Vivien. He slowed down time around Lili to prevent her from reacting while the other three attacked her with fire, mindblasts, and arrows. Lili only survived because Bolas intervened on her behalf and destroyed the buildings they were sniping her from.
Teferi wasn't as instrumental in Bolas' defeat as Gideon, Liliana, or Niv Mizzet, but aside from those three, he probably had the single biggest impact of all the heroes.
There's just a brief scene of Gideon being reunited with his companions, with no explicit confirmation on whether it was the Theros afterlife or if it was Gideon's dying hallucination. (The story team may have deliberately wanted to leave it ambiguous, it's never been established what happened to planeswalkers' souls after they die. Elspeth went to the Theros afterlife but that was because of her deal with Erebos, not necessarily just because she was on Theros when she died.)
As for Ral, he was working for Bolas, it just turned out that he was a triple agent who was actually loyal to Niv the whole time. But Bolas was also aware of Ral's true loyalties, which is how he was able to manipulate Ral into activating the beacon. To make things even more complicated, Niv knew that Bolas knew, and had secretly been working with Ugin to outmaneuver Bolas from the very start.
Overall I think the story was very satisfying. All of the POV walkers had good moments. There were several satisfying arcs with Dack, Liliana, Teyo, and Gideon. I like how their was progressive tasks that were needed to stop Bolas to fill out the 2nd Act, and yet it was still difficult to beat Bolas. The careful machinations of Ugin. How Bolas laughed at how he tricked the walkers, and didn't realize that Liliana was slowly gaining the courage to sacrifice herself.
As for the aftermath, I like it. We have some interesting plot-hooks hunting down the remaining Bolas Aligned walkers. Vraska hunting a blind foe, Ral hunting Tezzeret as a fellow scientist of sorts, and then Kaya the death killer vs Liliana the necromancer. Liliana has a lot of potential now. She is hated by most of the current walkers adding inherent conflict when she appears. There is internal tension in the gatewatch with their complicated history with Liliana. And she has her own internal conflicts with her sacrifice and Gideon sacrificing himself for her. Plus you have the Onakke and Raven Man.
The other 2 don't have a major plot hook aside from Tezzeret and New Phyrexia. But now each can branch out into their own plots. And you still have Ob Nixilis who also disappeared to plot.
Another strong moment was seeing the various complex interactions. The various Ravnican walkers, Angrath with Arlinn and Huatli, Dack with Nixilis and the others, etc. Apparently Kiora seems to be part of Tamiyo's story circle, which actually makes some sense.
Finally a shoutout to my man Sarkhan. He played a key role at points and Ugin points out that Bolas pissed him off a lot. He also apparently has a history with the Wanderer who is almost definitely not Elspeth.
rofl ok...
Spirits
Given Ugin, Bolas, and Niv that sounds pretty par for the course. If people don't want manipulation and wheels within wheels kind of plans then getting upset Bolas lost is kind of silly.
So, what exactly WAS the deal with Angrath? Was he actually on Bolas' side, or was he just commandeering eternals and running amok all on his own, like some here speculated? (Or did the implications of his card have literally no basis in story?)
And he reunited with Huatli? And teamed up with wolfmom?
Angrath was anti-Bolas and we don't see if Angrath takes control. Maro mentioned that most of the planeswalkers cards where made with their abilities first and then later matched wth a character, they wanted the black/red planeswalker to have amass for game play reasons and Angrath was the only red/black they had.
Yes and has a wholesome dad chat with Teyo.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Angrath was pretty awesome, especially before he went hunting Eternals with Huatli. His speech like "well, I am trapped for the second time by this stupid thing, and I just want to go home to my daughters and kick this dragon's minions ass. Just show me what to hit."
Some musings:
-Sorin and Nahiri are mentioned like twice, once fighting together, once fighting against Eternals (their quarrel forgotten for time being). Because the book is written from several POVs and not an omniscient narrator, this makes sense.
- a certain thing revealed about Ral Zarek is...surprising.
- I quite liked the writing, it fits the chosen way of telling the story (the limited POV of characters)
- plenty of walkers are just cameoing without even speaking (Narset, Tamiyo), Tibalt is mentioned once, Ashiok not at all. But there is Mu Yanling, who does not have a card in the set.
- Mowu can "transform" from the cute puppy into a big, three-tailed dog.
- team-up of Karn, Samut, Dack, Nixilis and Sarkhan to destroy the Planar Bridge on Amonkhet is great.
- Dack actually has a great arc and lots of action before dying, and his POVs including his passing are well-written. His death is unfornutate, and indirectly caused by the intentional reactivation of the Sun by the allies, so that Bolas cannot escape. It comes in a critical moment for Dack, because he would be able to planeswalk from the Eternal's grip.
- Davriel actually fights a bit.
- we do not learn much about The Wanderer.
- what is a little annoying is having to wait for the prequel stories, because the book starts immediately after their conclusion.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
I also like we saw a bit more of how a...neutral? Angrath is, when he isn't in a murder rage and wanting to just destroy everything.
Nahiri-I also noticed Nahiri was at the war counsel when they had gathered all the walkers and guild members to figure out what to do
Ral-I love it and idk if intentional but I like the symbolism of him not wanting to be outed as a planeswalker as well as the couple being on the DL since they are high ranking members of different guilds. Its also cute of each of them has a ribbon of the others clothing around their wrists.
Cameo and missing walkers- we are getting web fiction from Rat POV (Love her she is now on the list of characters I wanna see on a card) so I hope at least we get to see the walkers who didn't get a lot of screen time. I do wonder why Kasmina was made if yangling was gonna be in the story. Maro mentioned they have plans for Yangling in the view of Garruk so maybe she's gonna get a storyline soon?
Walker team up- Honesty this was one of my favorite parts of the book, seeing all the walkers fighting together and seeing their differt magics on opponents they didn't need to hold back on. Davriel was pretty badass in his fight, loved that part where he stole the elder spell out of an eternal to stop it. I also just loved the Wanderer asking Gideon to punch her. Glad to see she seem to be popular, I love to know and see more of the Wanderer.
Dack- Yea he got a great last arc. The dramatic irony of his statements through the book got to me too. His death was also a bit of a shock, I know it was coming, but like Dack, I like how we thought it was him being saved like he had just before hand or to realize he was trapped and being harvested.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Time Magic is kind of Teferi's thing. Doesn't mean he can't use other magic. Do you want to point to specific points in the novel where he should have used something else? Otherwise your complaints are hollow.
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
It is pretty clear where one arc will go, specially now that we know the tittle of the following book "War of the spark: forsaken", quite obvious what is going to be about after the end of nicol bolas.