I think the story will involve one of Liliana's demons. One of them looks somewhat Egyptian and Bolas was the broker who set Liliana up with each of them. I imagine she goes to deal with him and Gideon will also play a major role (if they want to keep him in Standard). Bolas will probably show up but be more of a side-plot; catching us up with him, reintroducing him post-origins, and setting up his master plan.
Bolas doesn't have to constantly be on the plane to pose as a god. Maybe he just checks in every couple years to see if any Worthy have been found and remind everyone of his power. Its not a great source of minions but walkers are uniquely useful.
Yup. Walkers are uniquely useful as minions since they can go to whatever plane you require. They can also combine magic from multiple planes which is what makes planeswalkers so powerful (and why Modern is stronger than Standard). Bolas' one limitation is that he cannot physically be in multiple places (that I am aware of), and many people are leery of a sinister Dragon.
I could see putting some small effort into a couple planes to generate loyal planeswalking servants.
He is definitely Azorius. He sees the proper way to do things, and it is nominally all about protecting wider society. They also provide Aether for everyone equally. That is white if I ever saw it.
As already said, I would really love to see Dominaria in a complementary product like Conspiracy because it means no damn Gatewatch.
No Gatewatch means that anything can happen to "protagonists". I mean, Brago damn DIED... Definitively I suppose... And he was arguably one of the most important characters in the entire setting.
Or at least there is the illusion of characters not being saved by the plot-armour.
Something that is really lacking with the Gatewatch narrative, where characters dying or suffering the consequences of their actions seems to be secondary characters only.
Characters don't need to die for a good story. And the reason the Gatewatch hasn't received consequences yet is because their story is just beginning. Most of the Weatherlight crew lasted throughout the Saga until Invasion.
Going off what you said in the spoiler tag, I think it would be best for Magic to have two weekly story columns. One called Magic Story or whatever that follows the Gatewatch and whatever they're doing, the main storyline - like what we've been getting recently. The other column, call it Uncharted Realms, could be something secondary, that explores the world we are visiting and maybe only tangentially/not at all, relates to the main storyline. Maybe it could be biweekly rather than weekly, or something. A couple vignettes about interesting characters around the world (like the story about The Gitrog Monster) or a small side series about some legendary creature dealing with a problem or whatever (like expanding upon Hal and Alana and Arlin Kord that we got in the very first SOI story), because I agree with you: the story feels like it is lacking depth. I feel like huge failings of these last two worlds is that I didn't really feel connected to the loss - personally I didn't care about the Zendikari, I didn't care about Avacyn very much because I felt like the roles in the story were glossed over, and I think partially this is because they didn't have enough words to tell us about them. I think that it might help with the official story's pacing because that often feels rushed in the end, but I'm a little more skeptical because the early parts of the story feels extremely slow.
I don't know how logistically and financially feasible this is, and I don't want the quality of the story to suffer for this, but I think it would go a long way to help out magics story problems.
I really like this idea. The smaller stories are some of the best parts. But it also disrupts the flow of the main plot to have the smaller stories interspersed in them. I think it is just a matter of budget and resources. Creative seems to be expanding significantly even now. I imagine they could eventually do it, but I don't think they have the manpower at the moment.
Have the Uncharted realms be standalone stories following characters on the plane we are visiting. You could have a 2 or 3 part story following Arlinn for example that occurs over 2/3 weeks. Then also have the smaller horror tales, and side stories. It gives more time to develop sideplot, like Thalia's march on Thraben.
Then have the Magic Story follow the Gatewatch/Planeswalkers. Continuing to use SOI, Follow Jace and his investigations. Without the side-stories clogging it up, there is time to have a red herring. Once he comes across the drownyard and suspects Liliana, shift to Sorin's plot for a couple weeks. Build up the conflict with Nahiri and interact with the rest of the Vampires. Then return to Jace and he deals with Lili, then goes to Thraben. There he meets Tamiyo and Sorin's plot intersects with Jace's.
Eldrich Moon: Emrakul shows up. Jace leaves to find the Gatewatch. Now we shift to Liliana as our POV. First week is setting the broad conflict with various perspectives of Emrakul appearing, then second week is Liliana beginning her zombie horde. Then we return to Sorin's plot and resolve his conflict with Nahiri. This ends with Olivia abandoning Sorin so she can go fight Emrakul. While this is happening, Thalia is marching on Thraben. Have stories of the march and them encountering the horrors along the way. A few side characters as well with a few references to Thalia's march and Liliana's horde. Perhaps Arlinn gathers the Werewolf packs to go and deals with the Were-drazis. This culminates in the battle with Brisela. At this point concurrently Jace and the Gatewatch make their appearance. They fight Emrakul while the side stories continue to show how side characters fight the Eldrazi and show them slowly losing. Then Emrakul does her thing. Now we get a small epilogue. If the Magic Story comes before the Uncharted Realms we get 1 week of epilogue for the Gatewatch with some bits from each of their perspective like in Oath of the Gatewatch; and 2 weeks of Uncharted Epilogue. Perhaps 1 dealing with Thalia's Order of St. Traft and Sigarda's new church establishing themselves, and the other devoted to Arlinn with some payoff of her story that has been sprinkled in the Uncharted Realms.
I could go on, and maybe I should properly plan out how I would do it. But the general outline is: Magic Story; follows main Gatewatch(Jace+Liliana) plot with intersecting secondary 'walker plot(Sorin vs Nahiri). Uncharted Realms; side stories, establishing the setting and tone, and a couple plot threads that carry through (Arlinn gets 2/3 part story in SOI, 1 story in EMN, participates in climax and gets 1 epilogue; Thalia gets large part of EMN). This way you have one exploring the interplanar plot, while the other stays plane-bound with some intersections. Inbetween sets you can have stuff like the Conspiracy story, while Magic Story could have a 2/3 part story following a walker we haven't seen in a while or the going-ons of Ravnica. Perhaps see how Ajani is doing on Theros, what Garruk is hunting, or Narset on Alara for a bit.
The only two Fioran goblin characters we already know are Grenzo and Daretti. A revenge story makes sense for Grenzo but doesn't really make sense for Daretti, so maybe we'll meet a new character?
Daretti's spark ignited after one of his machines "accidently exploded". Many were jealous of his rapid rise to prominance. It is not out of the question that someone sabotaged him.
There is hints of a very tragic character, but they rarely delve into his psyche. I enjoyed the Origins story leading into BFZ where he goes solo for weeks dealing with Ravnica and Zendikar. He is someone who feels intense guilt over his previous leadership, so he goes alone so as to not put anyone else in danger. He is a different White character than the typical teamwork guy, or at least he should be in my opinion.
I know Liliana did not bargain with Nicol Bolas until after she ascended and that the Raven Man appeared to her before she ascended, but the Raven Man in this story reminded me a bit of Tezzeret's Doctor Jest. Could Bolas have planted a control in Liliana from the start? This may be a bit far-fetched, but Bolas did orchestrate the demonic contracts; I wonder if he tried implanting a failsafe in Liliana as he did in Tezzeret.
There are many theories on the Raven Man. But naturally Nicol Bolas is always a suspect. Even when it is confirmed otherwise, it is still a possibility. The previous confirmation is just a misdirection concealing his plot.
It will definitely be a struggle, but that is life on Innistrad.
The reason Sorin needed Avacyn was because the Vampires had reached a critical mass. Depending on how frequently they converted, it could have taken years for it to become unsustainable. But Nahiri did a real number on the vamps.
The Order of Saint Traft and Sigarda will create some stability. Then they will just need to hunt down the remaining horrors, same as before except these are Eldrazi-fied. And there is still room for old horror.
I am satisfied with this ending. All the consequences make sense, and I am sure when the story is written out in full instead of a summery it will read well.
They also didn't ruin Innistrad. I would even say they enhanced it. They still have the horror, much of it is just transformed. When we return again we will have the Order of St. Traft, Sigarda as the new protector, the vampire clans probably consolidating, the leftover Eldrazi horrors in addition to the Demons already their with their horrors, and the tension of Emrakul eventually escaping. And she is definitely going to escape one day, it is only a matter of when.
A master planner doesn't plan for exactly how things turn out. They build it to be adaptive and work out when things go wrong. Of course that is human chessmasters. For a super-intelligent dragon, I imagine his plans predict many potential outcomes. It only appears convuluted because that is the series of events that led to it. Everything that could go wrong as they say. I imagine he had back ups and alternatives for his master plan. The reason they take so long is because he prepares for every eventuality.
Like this great Wellington quote: "[The French commanders] planned their campaigns just as you might make a splendid set of harness. It looks very well, and answers very well, until it gets broken; and then you are done for. Now I made my campaigns of ropes. If anything went wrong, I tied a knot and went on."
Though the plan to free the Eldrazi didn't have any room for error other than that Bolas could get any three walkers.
Well he needed 3 walkers, 1 needed to be a dragon (Sarkhan), and 1 needed to use Ghostfire (Chandra). But while that could be difficult, he already sent Sarkhan there; he just needed to lure Chandra and Jace/Gideon was likely to follow.
Yup. Walkers are uniquely useful as minions since they can go to whatever plane you require. They can also combine magic from multiple planes which is what makes planeswalkers so powerful (and why Modern is stronger than Standard). Bolas' one limitation is that he cannot physically be in multiple places (that I am aware of), and many people are leery of a sinister Dragon.
I could see putting some small effort into a couple planes to generate loyal planeswalking servants.
Characters don't need to die for a good story. And the reason the Gatewatch hasn't received consequences yet is because their story is just beginning. Most of the Weatherlight crew lasted throughout the Saga until Invasion.
I really like this idea. The smaller stories are some of the best parts. But it also disrupts the flow of the main plot to have the smaller stories interspersed in them. I think it is just a matter of budget and resources. Creative seems to be expanding significantly even now. I imagine they could eventually do it, but I don't think they have the manpower at the moment.
Have the Uncharted realms be standalone stories following characters on the plane we are visiting. You could have a 2 or 3 part story following Arlinn for example that occurs over 2/3 weeks. Then also have the smaller horror tales, and side stories. It gives more time to develop sideplot, like Thalia's march on Thraben.
Then have the Magic Story follow the Gatewatch/Planeswalkers. Continuing to use SOI, Follow Jace and his investigations. Without the side-stories clogging it up, there is time to have a red herring. Once he comes across the drownyard and suspects Liliana, shift to Sorin's plot for a couple weeks. Build up the conflict with Nahiri and interact with the rest of the Vampires. Then return to Jace and he deals with Lili, then goes to Thraben. There he meets Tamiyo and Sorin's plot intersects with Jace's.
Eldrich Moon: Emrakul shows up. Jace leaves to find the Gatewatch. Now we shift to Liliana as our POV. First week is setting the broad conflict with various perspectives of Emrakul appearing, then second week is Liliana beginning her zombie horde. Then we return to Sorin's plot and resolve his conflict with Nahiri. This ends with Olivia abandoning Sorin so she can go fight Emrakul. While this is happening, Thalia is marching on Thraben. Have stories of the march and them encountering the horrors along the way. A few side characters as well with a few references to Thalia's march and Liliana's horde. Perhaps Arlinn gathers the Werewolf packs to go and deals with the Were-drazis. This culminates in the battle with Brisela. At this point concurrently Jace and the Gatewatch make their appearance. They fight Emrakul while the side stories continue to show how side characters fight the Eldrazi and show them slowly losing. Then Emrakul does her thing. Now we get a small epilogue. If the Magic Story comes before the Uncharted Realms we get 1 week of epilogue for the Gatewatch with some bits from each of their perspective like in Oath of the Gatewatch; and 2 weeks of Uncharted Epilogue. Perhaps 1 dealing with Thalia's Order of St. Traft and Sigarda's new church establishing themselves, and the other devoted to Arlinn with some payoff of her story that has been sprinkled in the Uncharted Realms.
I could go on, and maybe I should properly plan out how I would do it. But the general outline is: Magic Story; follows main Gatewatch(Jace+Liliana) plot with intersecting secondary 'walker plot(Sorin vs Nahiri). Uncharted Realms; side stories, establishing the setting and tone, and a couple plot threads that carry through (Arlinn gets 2/3 part story in SOI, 1 story in EMN, participates in climax and gets 1 epilogue; Thalia gets large part of EMN). This way you have one exploring the interplanar plot, while the other stays plane-bound with some intersections. Inbetween sets you can have stuff like the Conspiracy story, while Magic Story could have a 2/3 part story following a walker we haven't seen in a while or the going-ons of Ravnica. Perhaps see how Ajani is doing on Theros, what Garruk is hunting, or Narset on Alara for a bit.
Daretti's spark ignited after one of his machines "accidently exploded". Many were jealous of his rapid rise to prominance. It is not out of the question that someone sabotaged him.
There are many theories on the Raven Man. But naturally Nicol Bolas is always a suspect. Even when it is confirmed otherwise, it is still a possibility. The previous confirmation is just a misdirection concealing his plot.
The reason Sorin needed Avacyn was because the Vampires had reached a critical mass. Depending on how frequently they converted, it could have taken years for it to become unsustainable. But Nahiri did a real number on the vamps.
The Order of Saint Traft and Sigarda will create some stability. Then they will just need to hunt down the remaining horrors, same as before except these are Eldrazi-fied. And there is still room for old horror.
FTFY.
They also didn't ruin Innistrad. I would even say they enhanced it. They still have the horror, much of it is just transformed. When we return again we will have the Order of St. Traft, Sigarda as the new protector, the vampire clans probably consolidating, the leftover Eldrazi horrors in addition to the Demons already their with their horrors, and the tension of Emrakul eventually escaping. And she is definitely going to escape one day, it is only a matter of when.
But how would you assemble 2 of them?
Well he needed 3 walkers, 1 needed to be a dragon (Sarkhan), and 1 needed to use Ghostfire (Chandra). But while that could be difficult, he already sent Sarkhan there; he just needed to lure Chandra and Jace/Gideon was likely to follow.