I got to talk with Mark Rosewater at Hascon yesterday, and one of the things I asked him about was the original weatherlight story concept from before he was taken off the creative team.
What he said was that the Weatherlight story was originally going to be a trilogy of Rath, Mercadia and the Phyrexian Invasion.
They started changing things away from his concept at the end of Rath block: Crovax would not have turned, Mirri wouldn't have been killed by Starke but would have been seriously injured by Selinia. Ertai would still have been stranded when they escaped.
Mercadia was supposed to be the crew getting stranded and also a murder mystery story because Starke gets killed. Mercadia was to be a merchant plane ruled by a Blue White character who became fascinated by the Weatherlight. The crew needs to repair the ship so they can return home and warn them about the coming invasion, and Mirri needs serious medical aid, but the repairs aren't getting done because the ruler doesn't want the ship to leave. The ruler trades aid for Mirri to keep the weatherlight for himself, but Gerrard invokes a trial/challenge that lets him get the ship back. Its also revealed that Tahngarth is really Volrath in disguise since he was rescued, and he was the one who killed Starke.
After they escape Mercadia, the portal takes them back to Dominaria but also throws them into the future after the Phyrexian invasion has already happened. They meet an older, wiser Ertai (who found his own way back from Rath) and have to find a way to overcome the Phyrexians. It has something to do with an hourglass that Gerrard gave someone in an earlier story thread that never got continued.
He said it annoyed him that the updated story killed Mirri, stranded Ertai and turned Crovax, leaving pretty much only Red and White characters on the ship.
That's *awesome*! I've been wondering about that for a long, long time. However, I think you'd get more of a response if this was in the Magic Storyline forum.
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Xantcha, Phyrexian Reject
Jodah, Archmage Eternal
Tovolar, Howlpack Alpha
Pivlic, Orzhov Informant
Crixizix, Master Engineer
Feather, Boros Peacekeeper
Marisi Coilbreaker
O-Kagachi
Gix, Phyrexian Praetor
Karn, Father of Machines
Yawgmoth, Father of Machines
Serra, Mother of All Angels
Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools
Leshrac the Nightwalker
Jeska, the Thrice-Touched
Elspeth Returned
Crucius the Mad
Taysir the Infinite
Urza's Head (Unglued!)
I'm doubtful of your story here, honestly. Maro has been saying for years that he'd love to tell the story of the original Weatherlight Saga, but that he wasn't able to and would have to get permission to share it. I find it extremely dubious that he finally got that permission, and decided that, instead of saving it for a podcast or article, he'd tell random con person #147 who asked him about the weatherlight saga all about it. I also find it unlikely that he didn't get permission, and the man who successfully sat on Unstable being created for 7+ years risked his job just to tell you about a storyline that got cut. It's entirely possible I'm wrong, of course.
MaRo has been hinting for a while that he is ready to tell the story, and I vaguely remember a blog post or podcast where he mentioned he was just waiting for explicit confirmation. It's possible he received permission, and while it was on the short list for a future podcast or article, he felt it acceptable to share a nice moment with a fan and brief them on the details at their request.
He's said repeatedly on Blogatog that he hopes to tell the complete story in a podcast. See this post's attachments for confirmation of two of OP's statements.
What he said was that the Weatherlight story was originally going to be a trilogy of Rath, Mercadia and the Phyrexian Invasion.
They started changing things away from his concept at the end of Rath block: Crovax would not have turned, Mirri wouldn't have been killed by Starke but would have been seriously injured by Selinia. Ertai would still have been stranded when they escaped.
Mercadia was supposed to be the crew getting stranded and also a murder mystery story because Starke gets killed. Mercadia was to be a merchant plane ruled by a Blue White character who became fascinated by the Weatherlight. The crew needs to repair the ship so they can return home and warn them about the coming invasion, and Mirri needs serious medical aid, but the repairs aren't getting done because the ruler doesn't want the ship to leave. The ruler trades aid for Mirri to keep the weatherlight for himself, but Gerrard invokes a trial/challenge that lets him get the ship back. Its also revealed that Tahngarth is really Volrath in disguise since he was rescued, and he was the one who killed Starke.
After they escape Mercadia, the portal takes them back to Dominaria but also throws them into the future after the Phyrexian invasion has already happened. They meet an older, wiser Ertai (who found his own way back from Rath) and have to find a way to overcome the Phyrexians. It has something to do with an hourglass that Gerrard gave someone in an earlier story thread that never got continued.
He said it annoyed him that the updated story killed Mirri, stranded Ertai and turned Crovax, leaving pretty much only Red and White characters on the ship.
Xantcha, Phyrexian Reject
Jodah, Archmage Eternal
Tovolar, Howlpack Alpha
Pivlic, Orzhov Informant
Crixizix, Master Engineer
Feather, Boros Peacekeeper
Marisi Coilbreaker
O-Kagachi
Gix, Phyrexian Praetor
Karn, Father of Machines
Yawgmoth, Father of Machines
Serra, Mother of All Angels
Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools
Leshrac the Nightwalker
Jeska, the Thrice-Touched
Elspeth Returned
Crucius the Mad
Taysir the Infinite
Urza's Head (Unglued!)