Nissa is going full EcoTerrorist again... re-retcon from the original ... and now add angy, hateful, any means necessary, Black.. she's getting vicious
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Nissa is going full EcoTerrorist again... re-retcon from the original ... and now add angy, hateful, any means necessary, Black.. she's getting vicious
Your thinking of Vivien? Nissa never been an "EcoTerrorist".
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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"
Your right. Vivien is the EcoTerrorist. Nissa was the Elf-supremist.
She may be turning more that way because of the bond she keeps forging with "worlds" and believing the "natural state" is the only way to go??
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-Jace sealing was a bit of a coup out, though to repeat thing if we gotten more stories would have been a decent way to end a story on a cliff hanger while Nahiri and Nissa fought and freed once Nissa freed the core.
-I do wanna see a proper finish to Sorin vs Nahiri.
-Hey Nahiri how do you like not being able to move as a magic tech orb is taken from you? Not fun is it?
-So it final Nissa is out of the gatewatch fully. While she might rejoin it seems Amonkhet, War of the Spark, the Chandra break up and Gideons death has killed the "blue" side of Nissa who was willing and wanting to learn more about other people and place.
-Oh wait no Jace trying to take over her mind in the final straw.
-The kor core (lol) being powered by a spark of Zendikars soul is very symbolic and I like. Might also explain how it was working, by sucking up more of the world soul which was what was leading to the blight and resulting "tame-ness".
-I do like the black-side of Nissa being her believing in her self more. While I'm annoyed she keeps being used to fill in color balances Im for more positive black aspects shown.
-So they do have a story reason why Zendikar is recovering so fast, as it looks like Nissa returning the piece of world soul renewed the whole plane to the point Bala Ged is regrowing.
-Not sure I like the "lesson" here. While all this could have been solved by everyone listening to each other, no one made any effort to do so besides Nissa listening to the core.
-That said I do like the themed of guilt we saw with the walkers and it ending with how broken people can still be redeemed.
Overall: My biggest critique is I think we could have had another 3-5 stories to flesh thing out more. A lot of moments felt rushed and fasted paced when I think they could have been slown down. The writing itself was decent, not the best we seen, but I didn't dislike it and wouldn't mind if they had the author return. I do give a nod to Greenblatt able to not only novelize the trailer but make it work with her own themes and characters, something that you only can see in this kind of multimedia franchise.
Character: Fine for the most part with Nahiri being the best written. I do like they push all into Nahiri being an old walker like of villain and I think the adding in of the Kor empire helped flesh her out and gives her a bit more to her past actions as being an old walker and a for from that time period instilling in her a "actions justify the means for (my version) of the greater good".
Future (semi-boarderline) speculation
Its been brought up but we might be getting a anti-gatewatch, each of the last few sets has left us with a walker with a grudge to a main character:
Eldraine had Oko with a life debt to Rowan and on Garruks ***** list
Theros had bot Calix hunting down Elspeth (and Ashiok going off to phyrexia but that feels more for that storyline)
Ikoria had Vivien going to hunt Lukka to make sure he not up to anything bad and the unknow walker*
and now Zendikar 3 with both Nahiri and Nissa not trusting Jace and Nahiri has a long tentacle-sized history of not handling grudges well.
To me Nissa breaking away hasn't been too much of a shock. Ive been noticing she has been slowly phased out of the marketing and replaced with Vivien and Garruk taking up the green slot of stuff. From what we know of the gatewatch history Gideon, Jace, Chandra and Liliana where the most popular walkers in in mono color (who was alive) with Nissa being picked as at the time she was the only green walker and was related to the eldrazi storyline. And since then I don't think she had reached the popularity they liked for a face of the game outside of her and Chandra possibly getting together and now thats all a mess. Just like I'm guessing they picked to bring back Elspeth around Gideon dying to replace him as a face, I got the feeling Ikoria and Eldraine did a similar thing to Vivien (who now is acting more inline with the gatewatch by using her planeswalker-ness to help) and Garruk (now cured, has the twins ground his humanity and Liliana believed dead, no major conflict wit the gatewatch). I don't think thy gonna write off Issa but I think she gonna go back to being a supporting character who we see on Zendikar and/or if we get to another plane with a land theme. I also guessing Oko is the one who was messing around on Ikoira and I think he was on Ravnica for War of the Spark so that might end with a conflict with the gatewach and/or plus Vivien and Garruk.
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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"
-Jace sealing was a bit of a coup out, though to repeat thing if we gotten more stories would have been a decent way to end a story on a cliff hanger while Nahiri and Nissa fought and freed once Nissa freed the core.
-I do wanna see a proper finish to Sorin vs Nahiri.
-Hey Nahiri how do you like not being able to move as a magic tech orb is taken from you? Not fun is it?
-So it final Nissa is out of the gatewatch fully. While she might rejoin it seems Amonkhet, War of the Spark, the Chandra break up and Gideons death has killed the "blue" side of Nissa who was willing and wanting to learn more about other people and place.
-Oh wait no Jace trying to take over her mind in the final straw.
-The kor core (lol) being powered by a spark of Zendikars soul is very symbolic and I like. Might also explain how it was working, by sucking up more of the world soul which was what was leading to the blight and resulting "tame-ness".
-I do like the black-side of Nissa being her believing in her self more. While I'm annoyed she keeps being used to fill in color balances Im for more positive black aspects shown.
-So they do have a story reason why Zendikar is recovering so fast, as it looks like Nissa returning the piece of world soul renewed the whole plane to the point Bala Ged is regrowing.
-Not sure I like the "lesson" here. While all this could have been solved by everyone listening to each other, no one made any effort to do so besides Nissa listening to the core.
-That said I do like the themed of guilt we saw with the walkers and it ending with how broken people can still be redeemed.
Overall: My biggest critique is I think we could have had another 3-5 stories to flesh thing out more. A lot of moments felt rushed and fasted paced when I think they could have been slown down. The writing itself was decent, not the best we seen, but I didn't dislike it and wouldn't mind if they had the author return. I do give a nod to Greenblatt able to not only novelize the trailer but make it work with her own themes and characters, something that you only can see in this kind of multimedia franchise.
Character: Fine for the most part with Nahiri being the best written. I do like they push all into Nahiri being an old walker like of villain and I think the adding in of the Kor empire helped flesh her out and gives her a bit more to her past actions as being an old walker and a for from that time period instilling in her a "actions justify the means for (my version) of the greater good".
Future (semi-boarderline) speculation
Its been brought up but we might be getting a anti-gatewatch, each of the last few sets has left us with a walker with a grudge to a main character:
Eldraine had Oko with a life debt to Rowan and on Garruks ***** list
Theros had bot Calix hunting down Elspeth (and Ashiok going off to phyrexia but that feels more for that storyline)
Ikoria had Vivien going to hunt Lukka to make sure he not up to anything bad and the unknow walker*
and now Zendikar 3 with both Nahiri and Nissa not trusting Jace and Nahiri has a long tentacle-sized history of not handling grudges well.
To me Nissa breaking away hasn't been too much of a shock. Ive been noticing she has been slowly phased out of the marketing and replaced with Vivien and Garruk taking up the green slot of stuff. From what we know of the gatewatch history Gideon, Jace, Chandra and Liliana where the most popular walkers in in mono color (who was alive) with Nissa being picked as at the time she was the only green walker and was related to the eldrazi storyline. And since then I don't think she had reached the popularity they liked for a face of the game outside of her and Chandra possibly getting together and now thats all a mess. Just like I'm guessing they picked to bring back Elspeth around Gideon dying to replace him as a face, I got the feeling Ikoria and Eldraine did a similar thing to Vivien (who now is acting more inline with the gatewatch by using her planeswalker-ness to help) and Garruk (now cured, has the twins ground his humanity and Liliana believed dead, no major conflict wit the gatewatch). I don't think thy gonna write off Issa but I think she gonna go back to being a supporting character who we see on Zendikar and/or if we get to another plane with a land theme. I also guessing Oko is the one who was messing around on Ikoira and I think he was on Ravnica for War of the Spark so that might end with a conflict with the gatewach and/or plus Vivien and Garruk.
There's lot to agree with you up here ^^, especially the problem of pacing. In my perspective there wasn't enough to distinguish this 'MacGuffin' from the Eternal Sun which, while also part of a MacGuffin story, at least had a detailed narrative that was located both distally and proximate to the main webfiction.
Yes this is a game about magic, and magic can do some impressive things in a story but I'm eerily reminded of the ending of the "Blue Sword" book which I disliked due the the hand-wavey way in which the plot's main crisis was solved by the heroine. There needs to be a greater emphasis on the cost, exceptionality and, most importantly, mechanics of the solution than was given.
Why was this orb (gosh, its even an orb!) able to do what it did when it was made with an entirely different purpose in mind? Why was Nissa able to use it for this purpose and why was this trust in her gut sustainable and trustworthy as opposed to the instinct that made her release the Eldrazi in the first place? Don't tell me leylines. Show me how they work. The event would have also been a good spot to include Nissa's weird connection to Emrakul, more on Nissa's halted relationship with Chandra and the rest of the Gatewatch.
Why did the memory of Gideon push her towards black as opposed to white and did the author do enough to present this as her interpretation of what Gideon would do? White and Green are usually Black's antagonist colours so why did her understanding of Gideon present itself in the way that it did?
There were some good parts: Like many, I like how Nahiri was written and interpreted though I remain confused as to why there wasn't greater antagonism between her and the Gatewatch for what she did to Innistrad. The mistakes of Jace and Nissa on Zendikar are not equivalent to the red on Nahiri's ledger. Unlike they she knew exactly what she was doing, and the outcome more or less matched her intent. Nahiri is a tragic figure and I'm glad it set her up as a potential antagonist of the 'Watch.
Is Nissa even still in the Gatewatch anymore? The story kind of leaves this hanging and while the new tension between her and Jace is good for character developement it is interesting that Nissa had already just rejoined the group. After all the two had accomplished together, the pacing does not demonstrate enough real conflict between the two to seriously endanger their relationship.
What is the message of the story? Listen? To what? There was no indication that the orb wasn't in fact a manipulative, inherently evil thing that would have given Nissa the exact opposite outcome than she sought for. What did Nissa really learn here and is it sufficiently appraised by the author? Sure she learns to trust herself again but what are the constraints and details of this newfound epiphany?
Eh that came out more critically than I wanted but I'm finding it hard to celebrate the return to webfiction here. It's as if Marketing told Creative what they wanted to have happen to the world and make up a reason for why that happened and while this isn't necessarily a bad thing or a system that inherently produces poor story-telling, the why still has to make sufficient sense in the minds of the audience for the suspension of disbelief.
Edit:
Imagine for second that instead of the Lithoform Core, the MacGuffin Nissa and the others were fight over was the 'One Ring' from LotR? By what argument could Nissa trust this power to heal rather than harm Zendikar? Yes, Nissa 'felt' the object as being a part of Zendikar as opposed to the eldrazi but feelings do not inherently lead one to construct the best possible policy for a problem.
Edit:
Imagine for second that instead of the Lithoform Core, the MacGuffin Nissa and the others were fight over was the 'One Ring' from LotR? By what argument could Nissa trust this power to heal rather than harm Zendikar? Yes, Nissa 'felt' the object as being a part of Zendikar as opposed to the eldrazi but feelings do not inherently lead one to construct the best possible policy for a problem.
While I can agree with a lot of what you and the person you quoted said this right here feels disingenuous. It isn’t comparable because Nissa does has a special connection to Zendikar. It is almost her entire character.
Its as though your asking a random person to trust the whispers of the one ring vs Sauron(?that's the evil guy right?Saruman?) themselves knowing how to use the ring. Still different as Nissa didn't make the orb but it was made of a piece of her best friend.
I want to reappraise the story and reconsider my critique. I don't know if my problem is the author's characterization of Nissa or if it is maybe just my problem with Nissa and the colour Green in general. Looking back on the matter, I cannot honestly name any author's depiction of Nissa that I actually like. Vivian Reid too for that matter, though I thought Wexler's depiction was the best so far.
The green characters that I have enjoyed such as Yasova, Garruk, Jiang Yanggu, Kiora, and Huatli have all (with the exception of Yanggu) had a strong association with other colours along with Green so maybe I'm not the best judge of what a good Nissa arc does or does not entail.
I think Nissa needs to be more than Zendikar and leylines. Now that Zendikar is as stable and healthy as its ever been in the last few thousand years, maybe Nissa could have it as her personal mission to backtrack to hurting planes she's previously visited and try to heal them? Aside from Ravnica there seems to be a very strong 'reconstructivist' theme happening or hinted to happen for many a familiar plane we've seen before.
Dominaria. Zendikar. Maybe next we'll see Innistrad, Amonkhet, and Tarkir restored? -granted Nissa has never been to Tarkir.
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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
Dominaria. Zendikar. Maybe next we'll see Innistrad, Amonkhet, and Tarkir restored? -granted Nissa has never been to Tarkir.
Innistard would require removing Emrakul and they just shouldn't ever touch that again. Amonkhet would be interesting as it would require working with the existing refuges and probably involve the resurrection of their gods. Tarkir isn't broken, Ugin never died so there is nothing wrong with it. That leaves only one good story thread to follow but they could also encounter countless broken new worlds so it could be explored as in-depth as they want. "Fixing" Alara would probably be way more interesting than any of those other ones as it is more about finding harmony with its new form as trying to return is impossible.
Dominaria. Zendikar. Maybe next we'll see Innistrad, Amonkhet, and Tarkir restored? -granted Nissa has never been to Tarkir.
Innistard would require removing Emrakul and they just shouldn't ever touch that again. Amonkhet would be interesting as it would require working with the existing refuges and probably involve the resurrection of their gods. Tarkir isn't broken, Ugin never died so there is nothing wrong with it. That leaves only one good story thread to follow but they could also encounter countless broken new worlds so it could be explored as in-depth as they want. "Fixing" Alara would probably be way more interesting than any of those other ones as it is more about finding harmony with its new form as trying to return is impossible.
I'm sorry no more eldrazi ever is physically impossible besides it will be a matter of time emrakul comes out of the moon
...huh....ok then....hmm...huh..and its over?...hmmm
Alright I guess. If Nahiri had used the orb, would it have healed Zendikar too?? The 'just use the hyper powerful weapon and it'll all work out' seems a little...hand wavy.
Wasn't the way I saw it ending and still don't really understand the motivations or intent of Nahiri, Jace, or Nissa.
It just ended up being a happy ending because 'the orb wanted it to be'? weird
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Resigned up after getting lost in the Twitch/MTGS whatever crossover
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From what I understand the artifact's power is completely neutral and can fix however you see fit. Pretty refreshing considering we already had a One Ring analogue in the Mirari.
There's lot to agree with you up here ^^, especially the problem of pacing. In my perspective there wasn't enough to distinguish this 'MacGuffin' from the Eternal Sun which, while also part of a MacGuffin story, at least had a detailed narrative that was located both distally and proximate to the main webfiction.
Yes this is a game about magic, and magic can do some impressive things in a story but I'm eerily reminded of the ending of the "Blue Sword" book which I disliked due the the hand-wavey way in which the plot's main crisis was solved by the heroine. There needs to be a greater emphasis on the cost, exceptionality and, most importantly, mechanics of the solution than was given.
Why was this orb (gosh, its even an orb!) able to do what it did when it was made with an entirely different purpose in mind? Why was Nissa able to use it for this purpose and why was this trust in her gut sustainable and trustworthy as opposed to the instinct that made her release the Eldrazi in the first place? Don't tell me leylines. Show me how they work. The event would have also been a good spot to include Nissa's weird connection to Emrakul, more on Nissa's halted relationship with Chandra and the rest of the Gatewatch.
Why did the memory of Gideon push her towards black as opposed to white and did the author do enough to present this as her interpretation of what Gideon would do? White and Green are usually Black's antagonist colours so why did her understanding of Gideon present itself in the way that it did?
...huh....ok then....hmm...huh..and its over?...hmmm
Alright I guess. If Nahiri had used the orb, would it have healed Zendikar too?? The 'just use the hyper powerful weapon and it'll all work out' seems a little...hand wavy.
Wasn't the way I saw it ending and still don't really understand the motivations or intent of Nahiri, Jace, or Nissa.
It just ended up being a happy ending because 'the orb wanted it to be'? weird
To semi-repeat myself, Nahiri talked about how the core had been used in the past as a power source and a way for the Kor to shape and control the land/stone. Well this was literal, the Kor had somehow trapped a piece of zendikar soul in it and I think it drained life from the plane to semi-tame it. Nissa who magic is connected to Zendikar world soul was able to return that piece to the plane and likely the only one who could do so.
For motivations we had:
Nahiri feeling guilty about failing to protect zendikar and see herself as its protector is wanting to not only fix her home but force it back to the way it was before the eldrazi, even if means "lobotomizing" the plane. Zendikar is healing but she lost the home she knew (a long long time ago).
Nissa feeling guilty about failing to protect zendikar and see herself as its protector is wanting to heal Zendikar from the damage from the eldrazi and protect the world soul as it is. She basically won. Sleeping on it I think the idea is she finally learned to listen and believe in herself and trust in her power (which was her black side coming out). I guess all of them needed to listen to her, even herself.
Jace feeling guilty about hiding the fact Bolas is alive wants to fix his friendship with Nissa, have Nahiri as an ally and possible use the core to fight Bolas or other planar threats. He lost in every manner but is left with hope things could still be fixed as he see that Zenikdar is healing from the mistakes of him and other who let the eldrazi scar Zendikar.
Is Nissa even still in the Gatewatch anymore? The story kind of leaves this hanging and while the new tension between her and Jace is good for character developement it is interesting that Nissa had already just rejoined the group. After all the two had accomplished together, the pacing does not demonstrate enough real conflict between the two to seriously endanger their relationship.
No, I think she out, I think she would be an ally if something huge like Phyrexia or Bolas came that might threat Zendikar but I think Nissa isn't wanting to leave or trust in people for awhile.
I think all of this would have been clearer with more story again though, a lot of this I caught from one line here or there since thats all the author had to fit it in.
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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"
Dominaria. Zendikar. Maybe next we'll see Innistrad, Amonkhet, and Tarkir restored? -granted Nissa has never been to Tarkir.
Innistard would require removing Emrakul and they just shouldn't ever touch that again. Amonkhet would be interesting as it would require working with the existing refuges and probably involve the resurrection of their gods. Tarkir isn't broken, Ugin never died so there is nothing wrong with it. That leaves only one good story thread to follow but they could also encounter countless broken new worlds so it could be explored as in-depth as they want. "Fixing" Alara would probably be way more interesting than any of those other ones as it is more about finding harmony with its new form as trying to return is impossible.
I'm sorry no more eldrazi ever is physically impossible besides it will be a matter of time emrakul comes out of the moon
I'm not against more eldrazi. I am against using any of their walkers as agents to interfere with Emrakul in the Moon. When they want to use that storyline again it should 100% be Emrakul decided it was time and left(or whatever it does). And we see people react to this, not have them instigate it.
Dominaria. Zendikar. Maybe next we'll see Innistrad, Amonkhet, and Tarkir restored? -granted Nissa has never been to Tarkir.
Innistard would require removing Emrakul and they just shouldn't ever touch that again. Amonkhet would be interesting as it would require working with the existing refuges and probably involve the resurrection of their gods. Tarkir isn't broken, Ugin never died so there is nothing wrong with it. That leaves only one good story thread to follow but they could also encounter countless broken new worlds so it could be explored as in-depth as they want. "Fixing" Alara would probably be way more interesting than any of those other ones as it is more about finding harmony with its new form as trying to return is impossible.
I'm sorry no more eldrazi ever is physically impossible besides it will be a matter of time emrakul comes out of the moon
I'm not against more eldrazi. I am against using any of their walkers as agents to interfere with Emrakul in the Moon. When they want to use that storyline again it should 100% be Emrakul decided it was time and left(or whatever it does). And we see people react to this, not have them instigate it.
I agree. Emrakul and the Eldrazi as they were portrayed in Eldritch Moon was as true to form as MtG has ever been with Cosmic Horror. Emrakul (and the rest of the Eldrazi for that matter) fill some kind of role in the cosmic balance of things and it would be inappropriate to never return to that thread. A good plot hook might even be the Gatewatch releasing Emrakul and helping offset the imbalance caused by the loss of the dead titans once they realize that thier actions, while good for Zendikar, were catastrophic for the multiverse at large. The purpose that the Eldrazi titans fulfill ought also be fuzzy and incomplete to the heroes. Cosmic Horror requires that regardless of how necessary the Titans might be, their role must not be entirely comprehensible to mortal, even planewalker minds.
Edit: Even the Gatewatch helping the Eldrazi might assign too much meaning and agency to the characters and their actions. Cosmic Horror is after all about powerlessness and insignificance. Ultimately it ought to be Emrakulto decide..Somehow...
I kind of wished they had taken a different route, one where Zendikar is telling those two guardians how it wants to be. Either through Jace touching the Orb and linking all minds together, or they could even have used Omnath. The overview of Zendikars legends mentioned it again as “Zendikar incarnate”, so why not use it, grab one walker in each arm, and the orb in the fourth, talk some sense into everyone and get the white color alignment along the way. This way Omnath could gain the “Locus of Creation” title, while fixing Zendikar to a state where both civilization and nature are safe. For all Nahir has done, I think she deserved to be forgiven by her world (not necessarily by other worlds) and finally have her home back and calm down a bit.
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.
Thanks to DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios for this sick Signature.
I guess this is a decent enough end to a webfiction story that was only given three articles. That being said, there are some things that really could've profited from some fleshing out.
The main thing for me are - as I've said before - Nahiri's motivations. Right up until the end, we get nothing more than "I want to make Zendikar whole again" from her, but we never truly get to know what it means. Yes, know that there was an ancient Kor empire and Nahiri is an ancient Kor, so there's probably a connection there. The core turns things into ash when used by Nahiri, so that implies that Zendikar and its inhabitants would suffer from her rebuilding ... but for my taste, this all relies on too much conjecture.
Instead of the Obuun side story (which is set during the time when the Kor empire was a thing, but doesn't really explore how the world was different back then), they could've done a side story with a young, pre-spark Nahiri as the protagonist, showing us everyday life in the Kor empire and pre-Roil Zendikar in general.
To a lesser degree, Nissa's attachment to the elementals also feels like something that was exaggerated for the sake of the story. I'm less hung up on this because Nissa has been a tree-hugger for a long time now, but it still would've been nice to get a bit deeper into her past. (Maybe there is some lore/story stuff I'm not aware of here?)
Also, the story spotlight cards have become pretty pointless. They're more like "here's something that happens in the story, in the vaguest possible sense" cards now. I thought Lithoform Blight meant that Nahiri would come out victorious in this conflict, but apparently it's just a representation of Nahiri's use of the core/key. Nahiri's Lithoforming and Nissa's Zendikon are just stock representations of the "attacks" the characters use in the story. Nahiri's Binding doesn't actually end up binding Jace. I mean ... if they're not acting as clues, why have them at all at?
Finally, some writing nitpicks:
He had to get the Lithoform Core. He had to find a way to broker peace between the two guardians of Zendikar.
Explanatory lines like these sometimes makes it seem like the author doesn't respect the intelligence of the readers...
Nahiri could hear the elementals pounding against the Singing City's walls, banging their mud fists and moss wings uselessly at the stones. The sound pleased her.
The whole Nahiri-Nissa-Jace fight was somewhat Naruto-esque ("s-she's fast...!), but it was this moment that kind of broke immersion for me. It's like we're in a video game and Nissa only has the "Summon Elementals" skill available - her elements must now bang on Nahiri's castle walls until their HP is depleted. Meanwhile, in-universe, Nissa has essentially become one with the plane. How hard can it be to create a flood of vines that simply creeps up the walls and into the Singing City?
My main gripe with the story as a whole was that the themes didn't really line up with what we were shown, and not even in a subversive way. Like, we were told at several times that both Nahiri and Nissa are the guardians of Zendikar. They were always, to some degree, considered equals in this. We know that Nahiri was a literal guardian of Zendikar for a huge part of it's Eldrazi era, so she actually has a pretty good claim. But then Nissa just usurps her without imo even earning it. She just talks to elementals. What makes her special. Why is Nissa the voice of Zendikar and not "yet another green aligned shaman". I know the answer is marketing, but it's annoying in-universe. There's thousands if not millions of green shamans on Zendikar, but for some reason Nissa is The Chosen One.
It goes a bit further. As Nahiri says on her story card, she commands the "bones" of Zendikar, which is a pretty neat foil thematically to Nissa. Not only are both concerned about the future of Zendikar, but both command a domain of Zendikar itself. Thematically they were equals. It would have been okay if this equality would have been acknowledged while moving the "true guardian" status to the other. Something like, "Nahiri was the guardian but now Zendikar needs a new guardian bla bla bla". Instead Nahiri is presented as an impostor, which is a slap in the face not only to her character but to the story in general.
If you set up the themes like this either make Nahiri have a "fall out" with Zendikar, or make her aware by herself that she is no longer the guardian of Zendikar. Or have them both be guardians and make both aware that Zendikar needs both its untamedness, but its people also need some safe havens. Maybe have Nahiri use the lithoform core to create roil-free hotspots around centers of civilization, while the roil continues elsewhere.
*throws hands up* There's so many things they could have done and they just did this. Urgh.
(Disclaimer: I do not blame the author in this. Wizards has a pretty bad track record with giving authors enough time and resources to produce good content, so until we get evidence that this was indeed the author's fault, I'll default (see what I did there) to Wizards.)
The core turns things into ash when used by Nahiri, so that implies that Zendikar and its inhabitants would suffer from her rebuilding ... but for my taste, this all relies on too much conjecture.
The problem is that we never really got any sort of explanation or hint as to how the lithoform core worked. I assumed, petrifying everything was just how it worked. But then Nissa uses it and does, like, the opposite? Did releasing the piece of Zendikar's soul inside cause all the damage to heal in an instant? That raises even more questions. Mainly, how much more can we devalue the threat of the Eldrazi if their damage to an entire plane can be undone in the blink of an eye, after they've already been destroyed by a large fireball.
Instead of the Obuun side story (which is set during the time when the Kor empire was a thing, but doesn't really explore how the world was different back then), they could've done a side story with a young, pre-spark Nahiri as the protagonist, showing us everyday life in the Kor empire and pre-Roil Zendikar in general.
I would have loved this. Why was this not a thing. Rude.
To a lesser degree, Nissa's attachment to the elementals also feels like something that was exaggerated for the sake of the story. I'm less hung up on this because Nissa has been a tree-hugger for a long time now, but it still would've been nice to get a bit deeper into her past. (Maybe there is some lore/story stuff I'm not aware of here?)
It was also very confusing. Like were the individual elementals actually entities that could die? Were they separate beings, like Kami that existed outside of their physical form? Or were they just manifestations of Zendikar's will, as elementals are usually understood? I mean, Ashaya was presented as the soul of Zendikar, but then what are the other elementals? Nahiri's reaction to elementals dying was justified, based on everything we used to know about elementals, but then Nissa goes "Noooo, you kiwwed it, it was my fwiend!" and we're left to wonder when that became a thing and whether or not Nissa is a reliable character. (Potshot theory of the day: Nissa has lost her mind after her encounter with Emrakul on Innistrad and is slowly descending into madness. You heard it here first folks.)
Also, the story spotlight cards have become pretty pointless. They're more like "here's something that happens in the story, in the vaguest possible sense" cards now.
They're also actively misleading. Lithoform Blight being a card, let alone a story spotlight makes it look as if it was, like a huge plot point in the story.
We get literally half a paragraph by Akiri seeing it and shrugging her shoulders before moving on. Like, at the very least use it as an argument by Nissa during her fight with Nahiri?
I mean-
*pinches nose*
Sigh.
Also, is it really that difficult to keep scale consistent in these stories? Ashaya is shown on its card to be enormous, but it can step on Jace and even has to bring down its arms to pin down Jace's? Like how big is it? The size of a lighthouse or the size of a person? Pick one.
To a lesser degree, Nissa's attachment to the elementals also feels like something that was exaggerated for the sake of the story. I'm less hung up on this because Nissa has been a tree-hugger for a long time now, but it still would've been nice to get a bit deeper into her past. (Maybe there is some lore/story stuff I'm not aware of here?)
Since Orings Nissa backstory was after she sparked, she was kicked out her elf tribe and lived with the elementals and/or Zendikar. With her faith of the gatewatch broken and the whole chandra and Gideon thing, the elementals are literally her only friends and family.
Also, the story spotlight cards have become pretty pointless. They're more like "here's something that happens in the story, in the vaguest possible sense" cards now. I thought Lithoform Blight meant that Nahiri would come out victorious in this conflict, but apparently it's just a representation of Nahiri's use of the core/key. Nahiri's Lithoforming and Nissa's Zendikon are just stock representations of the "attacks" the characters use in the story. Nahiri's Binding doesn't actually end up binding Jace. I mean ... if they're not acting as clues, why have them at all at?
TBH I'm not sure if the outside authors are given the spotlight cards to know they are major plot points. From most of the author interviews they have talk about they never see the cards until we do*, so I won't be surprised if the author didn't know to make certain points more significant.
There is also the fact that all web fiction except for Dominaria and Gathering Storm where done in house by the creative members who asked the card be design, if not designed by one of them and likely a lot easier to weave into into the story.
*though I think it be pretty good to give an author like Elliot a card to spoil
My main gripe with the story as a whole was that the themes didn't really line up with what we were shown, and not even in a subversive way. Like, we were told at several times that both Nahiri and Nissa are the guardians of Zendikar. They were always, to some degree, considered equals in this. We know that Nahiri was a literal guardian of Zendikar for a huge part of it's Eldrazi era, so she actually has a pretty good claim. But then Nissa just usurps her without imo even earning it. She just talks to elementals. What makes her special. Why is Nissa the voice of Zendikar and not "yet another green aligned shaman". I know the answer is marketing, but it's annoying in-universe. There's thousands if not millions of green shamans on Zendikar, but for some reason Nissa is The Chosen One. It goes a bit further. As Nahiri says on her story card, she commands the "bones" of Zendikar, which is a pretty neat foil thematically to Nissa. Not only are both concerned about the future of Zendikar, but both command a domain of Zendikar itself. Thematically they were equals. It would have been okay if this equality would have been acknowledged while moving the "true guardian" status to the other. Something like, "Nahiri was the guardian but now Zendikar needs a new guardian bla bla bla". Instead Nahiri is presented as an impostor, which is a slap in the face not only to her character but to the story in general.
I mean Nissa whole things has always been* speaking to the planes soul itself. Literally speaking to the world itself seems pretty like good reason to be guardian even Nahiri notes Zendikar had picked Nissa. Nahiri wants to master and control Zendikar, Nissa is literally its friend. And (as Nahiri needs to learn) her zendikar is gone.
That said, I agree that Nissa doesn't do much to show she should have been "right" and really feel like it was one-sided "she was right all along". I think it might have been better if Nissa would have given in and agreed to study the core off plane with Jace to see how it work (finding out it has a piece of zenidkar and then Jace trying to control her since he wants the core as a weapon against Bolas) but Nahiri refused as she already have distrust of others deciding the fate of Zendikar without her input again.
*since origins
(Disclaimer: I do not blame the author in this. Wizards has a pretty bad track record with giving authors enough time and resources to produce good content, so until we get evidence that this was indeed the author's fault, I'll default (see what I did there) to Wizards.)
I just wanted to say I think this something we all need to keep in the mind with the authors. From interviews and such I get that the author is given some creative wiggle room but mostly they just expected to turn the given draft into a prose. So far though it seem most of the characters who appear but don't get a card are created by the authors.
The core turns things into ash when used by Nahiri, so that implies that Zendikar and its inhabitants would suffer from her rebuilding ... but for my taste, this all relies on too much conjecture.
The problem is that we never really got any sort of explanation or hint as to how the lithoform core worked. I assumed, petrifying everything was just how it worked. But then Nissa uses it and does, like, the opposite? Did releasing the piece of Zendikar's soul inside cause all the damage to heal in an instant? That raises even more questions. Mainly, how much more can we devalue the threat of the Eldrazi if their damage to an entire plane can be undone in the blink of an eye, after they've already been destroyed by a large fireball.
I mean Nissa using the core is like an electric based character using a electric powered machine, they aren't using the thing in the traditional sense but the power source itself.
To note the art book and Ethan and Kelly during a podcast said on Dominaria the rifts where sucking out mana and once they where sealed the mana was returned to Dominaria and this sparked its supernatural recovery. Feels similar
To a lesser degree, Nissa's attachment to the elementals also feels like something that was exaggerated for the sake of the story. I'm less hung up on this because Nissa has been a tree-hugger for a long time now, but it still would've been nice to get a bit deeper into her past. (Maybe there is some lore/story stuff I'm not aware of here?)
It was also very confusing. Like were the individual elementals actually entities that could die? Were they separate beings, like Kami that existed outside of their physical form? Or were they just manifestations of Zendikar's will, as elementals are usually understood? I mean, Ashaya was presented as the soul of Zendikar, but then what are the other elementals? Nahiri's reaction to elementals dying was justified, based on everything we used to know about elementals, but then Nissa goes "Noooo, you kiwwed it, it was my fwiend!" and we're left to wonder when that became a thing and whether or not Nissa is a reliable character.
I think all the elementals are parts of Zendikar, similar to the eldrazi and their spawn. While I don't think killing elementals really harms the world soul I think it still "hurts" and Nissa can see/feel that.
Also, is it really that difficult to keep scale consistent in these stories? Ashaya is shown on its card to be enormous, but it can step on Jace and even has to bring down its arms to pin down Jace's? Like how big is it? The size of a lighthouse or the size of a person? Pick one.
I'd guess that Ashaya (and other elements) can change size when they manifest and/or able to add/subtract parts of their body depending on whats around. They kinda just rise up from nature as far as I'm aware.
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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"
As to why Nissa is special, she befriended Zendikar itself in the form of its elementals, so all the other green druids/shamans/wizards/clerics/whatever are posers.
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Been on this forum for 10++ years
Playing since '94
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/hunger-2020-09-25
Your thinking of Vivien? Nissa never been an "EcoTerrorist".
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
She may be turning more that way because of the bond she keeps forging with "worlds" and believing the "natural state" is the only way to go??
Been on this forum for 10++ years
Playing since '94
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/episode-5-two-guardians-2020-09-30
Insert manliness joke here.
The moment when the Black mana alignment is solified.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/episode-five-two-guardians-2020-09-30
-Jace sealing was a bit of a coup out, though to repeat thing if we gotten more stories would have been a decent way to end a story on a cliff hanger while Nahiri and Nissa fought and freed once Nissa freed the core.
-I do wanna see a proper finish to Sorin vs Nahiri.
-Hey Nahiri how do you like not being able to move as a magic tech orb is taken from you? Not fun is it?
-So it final Nissa is out of the gatewatch fully. While she might rejoin it seems Amonkhet, War of the Spark, the Chandra break up and Gideons death has killed the "blue" side of Nissa who was willing and wanting to learn more about other people and place.
-Oh wait no Jace trying to take over her mind in the final straw.
-The kor core (lol) being powered by a spark of Zendikars soul is very symbolic and I like. Might also explain how it was working, by sucking up more of the world soul which was what was leading to the blight and resulting "tame-ness".
-I do like the black-side of Nissa being her believing in her self more. While I'm annoyed she keeps being used to fill in color balances Im for more positive black aspects shown.
-So they do have a story reason why Zendikar is recovering so fast, as it looks like Nissa returning the piece of world soul renewed the whole plane to the point Bala Ged is regrowing.
-Not sure I like the "lesson" here. While all this could have been solved by everyone listening to each other, no one made any effort to do so besides Nissa listening to the core.
-That said I do like the themed of guilt we saw with the walkers and it ending with how broken people can still be redeemed.
Overall: My biggest critique is I think we could have had another 3-5 stories to flesh thing out more. A lot of moments felt rushed and fasted paced when I think they could have been slown down. The writing itself was decent, not the best we seen, but I didn't dislike it and wouldn't mind if they had the author return. I do give a nod to Greenblatt able to not only novelize the trailer but make it work with her own themes and characters, something that you only can see in this kind of multimedia franchise.
Character: Fine for the most part with Nahiri being the best written. I do like they push all into Nahiri being an old walker like of villain and I think the adding in of the Kor empire helped flesh her out and gives her a bit more to her past actions as being an old walker and a for from that time period instilling in her a "actions justify the means for (my version) of the greater good".
Future (semi-boarderline) speculation
Its been brought up but we might be getting a anti-gatewatch, each of the last few sets has left us with a walker with a grudge to a main character:
Eldraine had Oko with a life debt to Rowan and on Garruks ***** list
Theros had bot Calix hunting down Elspeth (and Ashiok going off to phyrexia but that feels more for that storyline)
Ikoria had Vivien going to hunt Lukka to make sure he not up to anything bad and the unknow walker*
and now Zendikar 3 with both Nahiri and Nissa not trusting Jace and Nahiri has a long tentacle-sized history of not handling grudges well.
To me Nissa breaking away hasn't been too much of a shock. Ive been noticing she has been slowly phased out of the marketing and replaced with Vivien and Garruk taking up the green slot of stuff. From what we know of the gatewatch history Gideon, Jace, Chandra and Liliana where the most popular walkers in in mono color (who was alive) with Nissa being picked as at the time she was the only green walker and was related to the eldrazi storyline. And since then I don't think she had reached the popularity they liked for a face of the game outside of her and Chandra possibly getting together and now thats all a mess. Just like I'm guessing they picked to bring back Elspeth around Gideon dying to replace him as a face, I got the feeling Ikoria and Eldraine did a similar thing to Vivien (who now is acting more inline with the gatewatch by using her planeswalker-ness to help) and Garruk (now cured, has the twins ground his humanity and Liliana believed dead, no major conflict wit the gatewatch). I don't think thy gonna write off Issa but I think she gonna go back to being a supporting character who we see on Zendikar and/or if we get to another plane with a land theme. I also guessing Oko is the one who was messing around on Ikoira and I think he was on Ravnica for War of the Spark so that might end with a conflict with the gatewach and/or plus Vivien and Garruk.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
There's lot to agree with you up here ^^, especially the problem of pacing. In my perspective there wasn't enough to distinguish this 'MacGuffin' from the Eternal Sun which, while also part of a MacGuffin story, at least had a detailed narrative that was located both distally and proximate to the main webfiction.
Yes this is a game about magic, and magic can do some impressive things in a story but I'm eerily reminded of the ending of the "Blue Sword" book which I disliked due the the hand-wavey way in which the plot's main crisis was solved by the heroine. There needs to be a greater emphasis on the cost, exceptionality and, most importantly, mechanics of the solution than was given.
Why was this orb (gosh, its even an orb!) able to do what it did when it was made with an entirely different purpose in mind? Why was Nissa able to use it for this purpose and why was this trust in her gut sustainable and trustworthy as opposed to the instinct that made her release the Eldrazi in the first place? Don't tell me leylines. Show me how they work. The event would have also been a good spot to include Nissa's weird connection to Emrakul, more on Nissa's halted relationship with Chandra and the rest of the Gatewatch.
Why did the memory of Gideon push her towards black as opposed to white and did the author do enough to present this as her interpretation of what Gideon would do? White and Green are usually Black's antagonist colours so why did her understanding of Gideon present itself in the way that it did?
There were some good parts: Like many, I like how Nahiri was written and interpreted though I remain confused as to why there wasn't greater antagonism between her and the Gatewatch for what she did to Innistrad. The mistakes of Jace and Nissa on Zendikar are not equivalent to the red on Nahiri's ledger. Unlike they she knew exactly what she was doing, and the outcome more or less matched her intent. Nahiri is a tragic figure and I'm glad it set her up as a potential antagonist of the 'Watch.
Is Nissa even still in the Gatewatch anymore? The story kind of leaves this hanging and while the new tension between her and Jace is good for character developement it is interesting that Nissa had already just rejoined the group. After all the two had accomplished together, the pacing does not demonstrate enough real conflict between the two to seriously endanger their relationship.
What is the message of the story? Listen? To what? There was no indication that the orb wasn't in fact a manipulative, inherently evil thing that would have given Nissa the exact opposite outcome than she sought for. What did Nissa really learn here and is it sufficiently appraised by the author? Sure she learns to trust herself again but what are the constraints and details of this newfound epiphany?
Eh that came out more critically than I wanted but I'm finding it hard to celebrate the return to webfiction here. It's as if Marketing told Creative what they wanted to have happen to the world and make up a reason for why that happened and while this isn't necessarily a bad thing or a system that inherently produces poor story-telling, the why still has to make sufficient sense in the minds of the audience for the suspension of disbelief.
Edit:
Imagine for second that instead of the Lithoform Core, the MacGuffin Nissa and the others were fight over was the 'One Ring' from LotR? By what argument could Nissa trust this power to heal rather than harm Zendikar? Yes, Nissa 'felt' the object as being a part of Zendikar as opposed to the eldrazi but feelings do not inherently lead one to construct the best possible policy for a problem.
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
Its as though your asking a random person to trust the whispers of the one ring vs Sauron(?that's the evil guy right?Saruman?) themselves knowing how to use the ring. Still different as Nissa didn't make the orb but it was made of a piece of her best friend.
The green characters that I have enjoyed such as Yasova, Garruk, Jiang Yanggu, Kiora, and Huatli have all (with the exception of Yanggu) had a strong association with other colours along with Green so maybe I'm not the best judge of what a good Nissa arc does or does not entail.
I think Nissa needs to be more than Zendikar and leylines. Now that Zendikar is as stable and healthy as its ever been in the last few thousand years, maybe Nissa could have it as her personal mission to backtrack to hurting planes she's previously visited and try to heal them? Aside from Ravnica there seems to be a very strong 'reconstructivist' theme happening or hinted to happen for many a familiar plane we've seen before.
Dominaria. Zendikar. Maybe next we'll see Innistrad, Amonkhet, and Tarkir restored? -granted Nissa has never been to Tarkir.
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
I'm sorry no more eldrazi ever is physically impossible besides it will be a matter of time emrakul comes out of the moon
Alright I guess. If Nahiri had used the orb, would it have healed Zendikar too?? The 'just use the hyper powerful weapon and it'll all work out' seems a little...hand wavy.
Wasn't the way I saw it ending and still don't really understand the motivations or intent of Nahiri, Jace, or Nissa.
It just ended up being a happy ending because 'the orb wanted it to be'? weird
Been on this forum for 10++ years
Playing since '94
To semi-repeat myself, Nahiri talked about how the core had been used in the past as a power source and a way for the Kor to shape and control the land/stone. Well this was literal, the Kor had somehow trapped a piece of zendikar soul in it and I think it drained life from the plane to semi-tame it. Nissa who magic is connected to Zendikar world soul was able to return that piece to the plane and likely the only one who could do so.
For motivations we had:
Nahiri feeling guilty about failing to protect zendikar and see herself as its protector is wanting to not only fix her home but force it back to the way it was before the eldrazi, even if means "lobotomizing" the plane. Zendikar is healing but she lost the home she knew (a long long time ago).
Nissa feeling guilty about failing to protect zendikar and see herself as its protector is wanting to heal Zendikar from the damage from the eldrazi and protect the world soul as it is. She basically won. Sleeping on it I think the idea is she finally learned to listen and believe in herself and trust in her power (which was her black side coming out). I guess all of them needed to listen to her, even herself.
Jace feeling guilty about hiding the fact Bolas is alive wants to fix his friendship with Nissa, have Nahiri as an ally and possible use the core to fight Bolas or other planar threats. He lost in every manner but is left with hope things could still be fixed as he see that Zenikdar is healing from the mistakes of him and other who let the eldrazi scar Zendikar.
No, I think she out, I think she would be an ally if something huge like Phyrexia or Bolas came that might threat Zendikar but I think Nissa isn't wanting to leave or trust in people for awhile.
I think all of this would have been clearer with more story again though, a lot of this I caught from one line here or there since thats all the author had to fit it in.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I agree. Emrakul and the Eldrazi as they were portrayed in Eldritch Moon was as true to form as MtG has ever been with Cosmic Horror. Emrakul (and the rest of the Eldrazi for that matter) fill some kind of role in the cosmic balance of things and it would be inappropriate to never return to that thread. A good plot hook might even be the Gatewatch releasing Emrakul and helping offset the imbalance caused by the loss of the dead titans once they realize that thier actions, while good for Zendikar, were catastrophic for the multiverse at large. The purpose that the Eldrazi titans fulfill ought also be fuzzy and incomplete to the heroes. Cosmic Horror requires that regardless of how necessary the Titans might be, their role must not be entirely comprehensible to mortal, even planewalker minds.
Edit: Even the Gatewatch helping the Eldrazi might assign too much meaning and agency to the characters and their actions. Cosmic Horror is after all about powerlessness and insignificance. Ultimately it ought to be Emrakulto decide..Somehow...
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
Thanks to DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios for this sick Signature.
The main thing for me are - as I've said before - Nahiri's motivations. Right up until the end, we get nothing more than "I want to make Zendikar whole again" from her, but we never truly get to know what it means. Yes, know that there was an ancient Kor empire and Nahiri is an ancient Kor, so there's probably a connection there. The core turns things into ash when used by Nahiri, so that implies that Zendikar and its inhabitants would suffer from her rebuilding ... but for my taste, this all relies on too much conjecture.
Instead of the Obuun side story (which is set during the time when the Kor empire was a thing, but doesn't really explore how the world was different back then), they could've done a side story with a young, pre-spark Nahiri as the protagonist, showing us everyday life in the Kor empire and pre-Roil Zendikar in general.
To a lesser degree, Nissa's attachment to the elementals also feels like something that was exaggerated for the sake of the story. I'm less hung up on this because Nissa has been a tree-hugger for a long time now, but it still would've been nice to get a bit deeper into her past. (Maybe there is some lore/story stuff I'm not aware of here?)
Also, the story spotlight cards have become pretty pointless. They're more like "here's something that happens in the story, in the vaguest possible sense" cards now. I thought Lithoform Blight meant that Nahiri would come out victorious in this conflict, but apparently it's just a representation of Nahiri's use of the core/key. Nahiri's Lithoforming and Nissa's Zendikon are just stock representations of the "attacks" the characters use in the story. Nahiri's Binding doesn't actually end up binding Jace. I mean ... if they're not acting as clues, why have them at all at?
Finally, some writing nitpicks:
Explanatory lines like these sometimes makes it seem like the author doesn't respect the intelligence of the readers...
The whole Nahiri-Nissa-Jace fight was somewhat Naruto-esque ("s-she's fast...!), but it was this moment that kind of broke immersion for me. It's like we're in a video game and Nissa only has the "Summon Elementals" skill available - her elements must now bang on Nahiri's castle walls until their HP is depleted. Meanwhile, in-universe, Nissa has essentially become one with the plane. How hard can it be to create a flood of vines that simply creeps up the walls and into the Singing City?
It goes a bit further. As Nahiri says on her story card, she commands the "bones" of Zendikar, which is a pretty neat foil thematically to Nissa. Not only are both concerned about the future of Zendikar, but both command a domain of Zendikar itself. Thematically they were equals. It would have been okay if this equality would have been acknowledged while moving the "true guardian" status to the other. Something like, "Nahiri was the guardian but now Zendikar needs a new guardian bla bla bla". Instead Nahiri is presented as an impostor, which is a slap in the face not only to her character but to the story in general.
If you set up the themes like this either make Nahiri have a "fall out" with Zendikar, or make her aware by herself that she is no longer the guardian of Zendikar.
Or have them both be guardians and make both aware that Zendikar needs both its untamedness, but its people also need some safe havens. Maybe have Nahiri use the lithoform core to create roil-free hotspots around centers of civilization, while the roil continues elsewhere.*throws hands up* There's so many things they could have done and they just did this. Urgh.
(Disclaimer: I do not blame the author in this. Wizards has a pretty bad track record with giving authors enough time and resources to produce good content, so until we get evidence that this was indeed the author's fault, I'll default (see what I did there) to Wizards.)
The problem is that we never really got any sort of explanation or hint as to how the lithoform core worked. I assumed, petrifying everything was just how it worked. But then Nissa uses it and does, like, the opposite? Did releasing the piece of Zendikar's soul inside cause all the damage to heal in an instant? That raises even more questions. Mainly, how much more can we devalue the threat of the Eldrazi if their damage to an entire plane can be undone in the blink of an eye, after they've already been destroyed by a large fireball.
I would have loved this. Why was this not a thing. Rude.
It was also very confusing. Like were the individual elementals actually entities that could die? Were they separate beings, like Kami that existed outside of their physical form? Or were they just manifestations of Zendikar's will, as elementals are usually understood? I mean, Ashaya was presented as the soul of Zendikar, but then what are the other elementals? Nahiri's reaction to elementals dying was justified, based on everything we used to know about elementals, but then Nissa goes "Noooo, you kiwwed it, it was my fwiend!" and we're left to wonder when that became a thing and whether or not Nissa is a reliable character. (Potshot theory of the day: Nissa has lost her mind after her encounter with Emrakul on Innistrad and is slowly descending into madness. You heard it here first folks.)
They're also actively misleading. Lithoform Blight being a card, let alone a story spotlight makes it look as if it was, like a huge plot point in the story.
We get literally half a paragraph by Akiri seeing it and shrugging her shoulders before moving on. Like, at the very least use it as an argument by Nissa during her fight with Nahiri?
I mean-
*pinches nose*
Sigh.
Also, is it really that difficult to keep scale consistent in these stories? Ashaya is shown on its card to be enormous, but it can step on Jace and even has to bring down its arms to pin down Jace's? Like how big is it? The size of a lighthouse or the size of a person? Pick one.
Since Orings Nissa backstory was after she sparked, she was kicked out her elf tribe and lived with the elementals and/or Zendikar. With her faith of the gatewatch broken and the whole chandra and Gideon thing, the elementals are literally her only friends and family.
TBH I'm not sure if the outside authors are given the spotlight cards to know they are major plot points. From most of the author interviews they have talk about they never see the cards until we do*, so I won't be surprised if the author didn't know to make certain points more significant.
There is also the fact that all web fiction except for Dominaria and Gathering Storm where done in house by the creative members who asked the card be design, if not designed by one of them and likely a lot easier to weave into into the story.
*though I think it be pretty good to give an author like Elliot a card to spoil
I mean Nissa whole things has always been* speaking to the planes soul itself. Literally speaking to the world itself seems pretty like good reason to be guardian even Nahiri notes Zendikar had picked Nissa. Nahiri wants to master and control Zendikar, Nissa is literally its friend. And (as Nahiri needs to learn) her zendikar is gone.
That said, I agree that Nissa doesn't do much to show she should have been "right" and really feel like it was one-sided "she was right all along". I think it might have been better if Nissa would have given in and agreed to study the core off plane with Jace to see how it work (finding out it has a piece of zenidkar and then Jace trying to control her since he wants the core as a weapon against Bolas) but Nahiri refused as she already have distrust of others deciding the fate of Zendikar without her input again.
*since origins
I just wanted to say I think this something we all need to keep in the mind with the authors. From interviews and such I get that the author is given some creative wiggle room but mostly they just expected to turn the given draft into a prose. So far though it seem most of the characters who appear but don't get a card are created by the authors.
I mean Nissa using the core is like an electric based character using a electric powered machine, they aren't using the thing in the traditional sense but the power source itself.
To note the art book and Ethan and Kelly during a podcast said on Dominaria the rifts where sucking out mana and once they where sealed the mana was returned to Dominaria and this sparked its supernatural recovery. Feels similar
I think all the elementals are parts of Zendikar, similar to the eldrazi and their spawn. While I don't think killing elementals really harms the world soul I think it still "hurts" and Nissa can see/feel that.
I'd guess that Ashaya (and other elements) can change size when they manifest and/or able to add/subtract parts of their body depending on whats around. They kinda just rise up from nature as far as I'm aware.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"