Ertai coming back is typically the sort of thing I would hate. Bringing characters back from the dead, without any prior expectation or setup, is one of the worst tropes in fiction - not only because it's unimaginative, but because it degrades the integrity of the story itself by cheapening life, death, and consequences.
But while I'm upset about Braids coming back, Ertai is at least somewhat okay, if only because his death in Apocalypse felt so disappointing and unworthy for the character. He was such an interesting, promising, and tragic figure, and for him to be reduced to basically a joke and killed off like a chump in a borderline-comedic way... he deserved much better than that. So this resurrection to me feels less like a past character being exploited by lazy storytelling, and more like one being given a second chance.
I'll just have to watch and see where he goes from here.
It is nice, I admit, to have some Old Phyrexian callbacks such as this (plus the references to Gix and Mishra), just to provide a stronger sense of lineage and continuity between the original Phyrexia and the new one. If WotC wants to push that angle further, Croag might be a good character to bring back. His ultimate fate was unknown after all, and he could have survived the devastation of Old Phyrexia, somewhere deep down in the Sixth Sphere. He rained down terror on Dominaria for several centuries leading up to the Invasion, and then he just disappeared from the story without any sort of follow-up. Bringing him back as a present-day menace would hardly strain credulity.
I know it’s true but what part of the video talks about the weather light being compleated.
in other words they did a Amazon leak again but this time world building (they forgot episode 5 didn’t get published yet.
another interesting note
Sheoldred is aware of Gix she claimed she gonna succeed when he failed.
The two guys discussing the art and history at the beginning start talking in the later half about "Phyrexia is transgressive, and what would be the most transgressive thing they could do? Take the best known artifact, the symbol of current Dominaria, and compleat it." And there's art of a compleated Weatherlight shown labeled as concept art. So it is possible Phyrexia will get its claws on the airship...just not confirmed. Yet. lol.
It is nice, I admit, to have some Old Phyrexian callbacks such as this (plus the references to Gix and Mishra), just to provide a stronger sense of lineage and continuity between the original Phyrexia and the new one. If WotC wants to push that angle further, Croag might be a good character to bring back. His ultimate fate was unknown after all, and he could have survived the devastation of Old Phyrexia, somewhere deep down in the Sixth Sphere. He rained down terror on Dominaria for several centuries leading up to the Invasion, and then he just disappeared from the story without any sort of follow-up. Bringing him back as a present-day menace would hardly strain credulity.
I like how it its a dark twist of the history theme Dominaria has now.
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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"
I miss the Newts that were used as Sleepers in the OG Phyrexian invasion. They weren't completed so there was no way to tell if they were a sleeper or not, with these newer versions all you have to do is look for the lines or golden irises.
This all feels similar to when they tried to push humanoid slivers on us.
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Never forget whose grace and favor led to your success and always give your thanks, otherwise you might be doomed to loose it.
I have gone fast through the worldbuilding panel video.
I must say that I really liked the new sagas. Cruelty of Gix, Weatherseed Treaty, Braids' Frightful Return, Urza Assembles the Titans - we finally are getting at least a little depiction of Kristina and Taysir.
Also liking the New Argivians - the triangular defense base resemblid a star destroyer, King Darien XLVIII...
All in all, the visuals are great, despite the story sucks.
ATTACHMENTS
titans
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100% Vorthos Spike and Storyline Expert
Former Fact Prospector of the Greek Alliance.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
All in all, the visuals are great, despite the story sucks.
Yeah, I know it's a long-standing complain that can't really be addressed, but the story they're telling here is far too big to be told over a couple of online fiction articles. It deserves more room, and ends up sucking because it has to fit in such a cramped space.
That being said ... the world building, underlying concepts and artworks are superb as always. These are the main things that have me coming back to Magic, despite having given up on the actual gameplay and the story.
All in all, the visuals are great, despite the story sucks.
Yeah, I know it's a long-standing complain that can't really be addressed, but the story they're telling here is far too big to be told over a couple of online fiction articles. It deserves more room, and ends up sucking because it has to fit in such a cramped space.
That being said ... the world building, underlying concepts and artworks are superb as always. These are the main things that have me coming back to Magic, despite having given up on the actual gameplay and the story.
Well, the golden era for Vorthosi is long past, when we were arguing about every other line in a book, forming theories because we believed that there were actually deep plans from the authors It ended about the same time as the books-per-sets did (Lorwyn)..since Alara it went only downhill. Where they cared for the continuity, and where rules like "bringing back a character whose death was significant for storyline is a big fat NO" were actually in place and adhered to.
So, we learned to be happy from the occasional bone we are thrown with finally getting the nostalgia characters, etc.
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100% Vorthos Spike and Storyline Expert
Former Fact Prospector of the Greek Alliance.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Okay but how many major character deaths have they retcon'd? I can think of only 4, Bolas, Elsepth (who was never set up to be permanently dead), Ugin and now Ertai. Braids fate was unclear enough I don't buy it as a retcon.
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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"
Okay but how many major character deaths have they retcon'd? I can think of only 4, Bolas, Elsepth (who was never set up to be permanently dead), Ugin and now Ertai. Braids fate was unclear enough I don't buy it as a retcon.
Also, how many of those had deaths significant to the storyline?
Ugin's death and its consequences were established at the same time he was "resurrected" and it had been his plan to be rescued via time-travel from the start apparently.
Bolas' death was a significant part of the Legends story, but that didn't have any consequences and wasn't even put into perspective (i.e. the consequences of that storyline) until they decided to bring him back as a villain.
Elspeth, as you said, was never set up to be dead because she was clearly at the "journey into the underworld" part of the monomyth, and they weren't even subtle about her coming back.
Was Ertai's death that significant? From what I can tell (but please correct me I am wrong) he was accidentally incinerated by Squee of all people after torturing the Goblin, without any interesting further developments coming out of that aside from Squee becoming immortal.
On the other hand, Gideon is and will stay dead (they even swatted away the possibility of resurrecting him via Witherbloom knowledge in Strixhaven). The gods of Amonkhet (aside from Hazoreth) are and will remain dead. Dack Fayden, Domri Rade, Ulamog, Kozilek and Avacyn are and will stay dead. And the list goes on. Sure, maybe other people should have died instead, or some people have unneeded plot armor or what have you, but I find it a bit disingenuous to say that death is handled like in a comic book now.
“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"
Everyone's been just assuming that this includes The Brother's War, but are we really sure? All we know is that Dominaria United kicks off a new arc that "spans four sets." The Brother's War, taking place in the past as a flashback, might not be included in this. It seems more likely to me that the arc begun in Dominaria United will be concluded in the three expansions following The Brother's War, judging from the codenames LACROSSE, MARATHON, and MARATHON: EPILOGUE.
Two more present-day stories feels far too short to finish off this Phyrexian arc, unless the Phyrexians conclude this arc by winning and scattering the heroes.
The new Weatherlight crew is a far cry from the original team. Shanna should be banned from even evoking her ancestor's name.
I am summing this up to a failure on the writers' part.
They are removing brain cells from characters to get the outcome they think will give the most shock value. Any Dominarian, let alone a direct descendent of Sisay, would know the insidious nature of a single scrap of phyrexian material would have.
Additionally if they brought back Ertai and make not a single mention of him trying to get Belbe resurrected like himself I will be very disappointed. Then again, having more than the bare rudimentary understanding of the history of the story of this game is asking for too much it would seem.
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Never forget whose grace and favor led to your success and always give your thanks, otherwise you might be doomed to loose it.
Phyrexia really wasn't that contagious prior to Mirrodin. Old Phyrexian garbage would be dangerous for having diseases and the like, but wouldn't automatically compleat anything.
“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"
“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"
But while I'm upset about Braids coming back, Ertai is at least somewhat okay, if only because his death in Apocalypse felt so disappointing and unworthy for the character. He was such an interesting, promising, and tragic figure, and for him to be reduced to basically a joke and killed off like a chump in a borderline-comedic way... he deserved much better than that. So this resurrection to me feels less like a past character being exploited by lazy storytelling, and more like one being given a second chance.
I'll just have to watch and see where he goes from here.
It is nice, I admit, to have some Old Phyrexian callbacks such as this (plus the references to Gix and Mishra), just to provide a stronger sense of lineage and continuity between the original Phyrexia and the new one. If WotC wants to push that angle further, Croag might be a good character to bring back. His ultimate fate was unknown after all, and he could have survived the devastation of Old Phyrexia, somewhere deep down in the Sixth Sphere. He rained down terror on Dominaria for several centuries leading up to the Invasion, and then he just disappeared from the story without any sort of follow-up. Bringing him back as a present-day menace would hardly strain credulity.
The two guys discussing the art and history at the beginning start talking in the later half about "Phyrexia is transgressive, and what would be the most transgressive thing they could do? Take the best known artifact, the symbol of current Dominaria, and compleat it." And there's art of a compleated Weatherlight shown labeled as concept art. So it is possible Phyrexia will get its claws on the airship...just not confirmed. Yet. lol.
@tearingeons
I like how it its a dark twist of the history theme Dominaria has now.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
did you guys miss something?
Look again at the Aron art
look at the stain glass in the background
Name even one person on domnaria besides someone compleat that would put that up!
Yawgmoth stain glass
Nice to see New Phyrexia honoring their original creator. It makes it feel like they're here on Dominaria to finish what he started.
This all feels similar to when they tried to push humanoid slivers on us.
I must say that I really liked the new sagas. Cruelty of Gix, Weatherseed Treaty, Braids' Frightful Return, Urza Assembles the Titans - we finally are getting at least a little depiction of Kristina and Taysir.
Also liking the New Argivians - the triangular defense base resemblid a star destroyer, King Darien XLVIII...
All in all, the visuals are great, despite the story sucks.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
That being said ... the world building, underlying concepts and artworks are superb as always. These are the main things that have me coming back to Magic, despite having given up on the actual gameplay and the story.
Well, the golden era for Vorthosi is long past, when we were arguing about every other line in a book, forming theories because we believed that there were actually deep plans from the authors It ended about the same time as the books-per-sets did (Lorwyn)..since Alara it went only downhill. Where they cared for the continuity, and where rules like "bringing back a character whose death was significant for storyline is a big fat NO" were actually in place and adhered to.
So, we learned to be happy from the occasional bone we are thrown with finally getting the nostalgia characters, etc.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Also, how many of those had deaths significant to the storyline?
Ugin's death and its consequences were established at the same time he was "resurrected" and it had been his plan to be rescued via time-travel from the start apparently.
Bolas' death was a significant part of the Legends story, but that didn't have any consequences and wasn't even put into perspective (i.e. the consequences of that storyline) until they decided to bring him back as a villain.
Elspeth, as you said, was never set up to be dead because she was clearly at the "journey into the underworld" part of the monomyth, and they weren't even subtle about her coming back.
Was Ertai's death that significant? From what I can tell (but please correct me I am wrong) he was accidentally incinerated by Squee of all people after torturing the Goblin, without any interesting further developments coming out of that aside from Squee becoming immortal.
On the other hand, Gideon is and will stay dead (they even swatted away the possibility of resurrecting him via Witherbloom knowledge in Strixhaven). The gods of Amonkhet (aside from Hazoreth) are and will remain dead. Dack Fayden, Domri Rade, Ulamog, Kozilek and Avacyn are and will stay dead. And the list goes on. Sure, maybe other people should have died instead, or some people have unneeded plot armor or what have you, but I find it a bit disingenuous to say that death is handled like in a comic book now.
FAITH IN BIRDS by Marcus Terrell Smith
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/faith-birds-2022-08-17
Shards of Nightmares By Phoebe Barton
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/shards-nightmares-2022-08-17
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
those fools failed to realize the stream will beat us to the punch of the big reveal
and we already know ajani compleated and how brothers war connects to the 4 part arc
how did the weatherlight get compleated
Let’s just say the crew……omg they failed to do their homework
The moment I heard they used phyrexian garbage as cameflauge to infiltrate sheoldred domain.
that made me say……oh crap they are so dumb that explains how it got compleated.
clearly that garbage clearly started it’s compleation work on the weatherlight
Everyone's been just assuming that this includes The Brother's War, but are we really sure? All we know is that Dominaria United kicks off a new arc that "spans four sets." The Brother's War, taking place in the past as a flashback, might not be included in this. It seems more likely to me that the arc begun in Dominaria United will be concluded in the three expansions following The Brother's War, judging from the codenames LACROSSE, MARATHON, and MARATHON: EPILOGUE.
Two more present-day stories feels far too short to finish off this Phyrexian arc, unless the Phyrexians conclude this arc by winning and scattering the heroes.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
I am summing this up to a failure on the writers' part.
They are removing brain cells from characters to get the outcome they think will give the most shock value. Any Dominarian, let alone a direct descendent of Sisay, would know the insidious nature of a single scrap of phyrexian material would have.
Additionally if they brought back Ertai and make not a single mention of him trying to get Belbe resurrected like himself I will be very disappointed. Then again, having more than the bare rudimentary understanding of the history of the story of this game is asking for too much it would seem.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/episode-5-whisper-wind-2022-08-18
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Why?
I wonder why Sheoldred remain subservient to Norn in spite of her amassing armies in Dominaria though.