For what happened on Zendikar while she was trapped in the helvault and unable to prevent it.
If Nahiri WASN'T somehow incapable of protecting Zendikar then it makes NO SENSE that she wasn't there to do so. Doubly so her being mad at Sorin for not doing something she herself apparently couldn't be bothered to do. If she weren't trapped.
Nahiri's arc, and her still being alive at all, makes no sense UNLESS she was both incapable to returning to protect her home plane, and in some sort of life-prolonging stasis like state.
The helvault is the solution that the SOI story has been pointing at since long before MaRo's comment.
Sorin's puzzlement at Nahiri's whereabouts is likely being retconned.
Note that I didn't entirely dismiss the possibility of Nahiri having been trapped. Only the presumption that Sorin willingly incarcerated her and then proceeded to forget all about it. Maybe Avacyn did it behind Sorin's back. In fact, Avacyn was made forget about Sorin, so likely she captured Nahiri on her own for considering her a menace to Innistrad and Sorin never knew.
While possible I don't think it's likely. Other than the initial surprise tackle, Nahiri's fight with Avacyn seemed pretty one-sided in Nahiri's favor until Sorin stepped in. Though Avacyn seemed like she could easily overpower neowalkers, she didn't seem to be on par with oldwalkers at that time. (that's not to say that once the church was more established she couldn't have grown into such power, but she didn't seem to possess it at the time)
I think the instance being discussed occured in the original Zendikar block, before the helvault got destroyed (or we even knew the helvault was a thing). He'd have obviously known where she was at that time if he had stuffed her in there.
Yeah. The current presumptive story arc paints Sorin as having made a lot of extremely stupid, incredibly short sighted decisions. There's not a lot they can do at this point to fix that...
For what happened on Zendikar while she was trapped in the helvault and unable to prevent it.
If Nahiri WASN'T somehow incapable of protecting Zendikar then it makes NO SENSE that she wasn't there to do so. Doubly so her being mad at Sorin for not doing something she herself apparently couldn't be bothered to do. If she weren't trapped.
Nahiri's arc, and her still being alive at all, makes no sense UNLESS she was both incapable to returning to protect her home plane, and in some sort of life-prolonging stasis like state.
The helvault is the solution that the SOI story has been pointing at since long before MaRo's comment.
Sorin's puzzlement at Nahiri's whereabouts is likely being retconned.
The Hedron network was of Ugin's design, not Nahiri's. She's just the one who built it for him. The impression that the story Stirring from Slumber gives is that it took a considerable amount of time for her to forge the new stone to fix the damage the vampires did the first time the brood were let loose. And that was described as a 'slight' alteration back when she was still an oldwalker.
It really is possible that no, she simply didn't know how to realign what was left of the hedrons the way that Ugin did.
This was a good story told well, IMO, but it was the wrong one to start EMN with. It develops the plot but it doesn't answer any significant questions about what is going on and I think a lot of us were hoping for that.
Given that we're still a few weeks from official previews, the lack of main plot advancement is likely intentional.
i thought ashiok was a zombie planeswalker from theros that didn't have his mask on
Nope. Ashiok isn't from Theros. They were just on the plane experimenting with/studying the plane's more unique properties; devotion, nyx and the gods.
We don't know where they're from or really much about them at all.
Two theories:
Nicol Bolas wanted the eldrazi to be released so he could harness their powers, SOI is him experimenting with that ability.
Onakke and/or other force behind the chain veil.
I'm not convinced of Emrakul theory.
Bolas or Onakke may be involved somehow, but only Emrakul makes sense in terms of the Nahiri narrative. The 'artifact' she would bring into play is something akin to the Helvault.
Bolas and the Chain Veil don't connect to Nahiri in the same way (or at all), unless Nahiri was intercepted by Bolas. But Bolas isn't the one being prevented from entering Innistrad.
Think about this logically, step by step:
6,000 + years ago - Nahiri's spark ignites, she meets Sorin who becomes a mentor (Zen Art Book)
6,000 years ago - They encounter the Eldrazi, meet with Ugin, spend 40 years building the hedron network after they convince Nahiri Zendikar is the best place. They both promise to return, and Nahiri settles in guard the prison. (The Lithomancer)
She becomes disconnected from her people after centuries, and encases herself in stone. (Stirring from Slumber)
1,200 Years Ago - Bolas takes out Ugin
1,000+ Years Ago - Sorin begins work on the Helvault and Avacyn
1,000 Years Ago - Nahiri wakes up, finds the eldrazi testing their bonds and nearly coming free. She fixes it, but wonders why her allies didn't come help, and goes looking for them (Stirring from Slumber)
Just under 1,000 Years Ago - She arrives on Innistrad and finds the Helvault. She studies it before being surprised by Sorin. She's excited that he's alive, but that excitement turns sour when she realizes he doesn't care that he may have doomed her plane by cutting himself off from the alarm they set. She gets angry and tries to beat some sense into him, but is overpowered by the just-completed Avacyn. (Promises Old and New)
Sorin Imprisons her in the Helvault (Maro let this slip on Tumblr)
~2 years ago - Gisa and Geralf lay siege to Thraben, Liliana uses the opportunity to get in, destroy the Helvault and kill Griselbrand... Freeing Nahiri in the process, who has just suffered 1,000 years of torment at the hands of an ever growing number of demons.
So what does Nahiri do? She goes home. Where the Eldrazi are free. The Hedron Network is all but destroyed, and it took three Old Walkers 40 years to put it together last time. So she heads back to Innistrad and makes the faster but cruder Cryptoliths to draw in the Eldrazi, just like they did on Zendikar. She knows about the Helvault, knows it is made of Moon Silver, and likely intends to imprison the Eldrazi inside - since there is no other place she knows of that could do so.
A succinct and informative summary.*
Any big bad other than Emrakul simply doesn't really work with what we know of Nahiri's involvement. Particularly given that she's still a (partly or primarily) white character. To tie her to any other threat is going to require the story to jump through a lot of hoops.
*My only minor quibble is that, other than the initial surprise attack, Nahiri seemed to be winning fairly handily against Avacyn until Sorin intervened.
My main complaint about Emrakul (if it is, in fact, Emrakul) is that it's boring, kinda lazy storytelling.
"OH NO, TWO OF THE ELDRAZI ARE BACK!"
"IT'S OK WE CAN KILL THEM!"
"But wait! There's a third...and she's out there...somewhere. I wonder where she is; what havoc she could be wreaking; what horrible sins she's committing...and I hope we don't find out too late. We waited six years to destroy two of the beasts...we will strive as long as it takes -- forever, if need be! -- to vanquish the third!"
*six months later*
"OOP! Ok, found her guys."
It's just...ugh. It's like if a movie trilogy is released all at once. Where's the suspense? The mystery? The bated-breath intrigue? You can't set up an epic quest to kill Emrakul and then resolve it in a single small set 6 months later. It's bad writing.
On a similar note, did Jace help destroy two of the most powerful beings in the Multiverse, and then immediately grab a warm coat and planeswalk away from his new buddies to go clue hunting like a day later?
Basically.
The Gatewatch took down Ulamog and Kozilek, Ugin showed up called them stupid, and told Jace to go find Sorin.
anybody else notice in the Something Twisted article "I don't know about you, but Graf Mole is the only mole I've ever seen with tentacles for a nose."
Well she would have had to stick around to make sure things worked out. She'd need to make sure the lure was working and possibly make adjustments. She'd need to make sure Avacyn was gone otherwise the lure working wouldn't have mattered. She'd want to make sure Sorin didn't figure it out and derail her plan. And given the idea that she's planning on trapping Emrakul, there's likely more steps she'll need to undertake after Em manifests.
The ghouls and cultists and what not could well simply be cannon fodder meant to slow Sorin down to buy her the time ahe needs.
Being trapped in the helvault, aside from being the obvious direction creative was pointing towards given Sorin's flashbacks, also answers basically all the Nahiri questions.
How is she still alive this long after the mending? Presumably she didnt age while locked away. For her its essentially only been a year or so since she had a physical form TO age.
If she was alive then why wasn't she there to help keep the eldrazi imprisoned? Cause she was in the helvault.
Why is she so mad at Sorin? Cause he essentially betrayed her, sacrificed her plane, and then locked her in a cell with demons for a thousand years. (We know from I Am Avacyn that there is some level of awareness and interaction within the helvault. Avacyn felt the touch of demon wings.)
Why didn't she try fighting the eldrazi on Zendikar? Because it took the god-like power of three oldwalkers to trap them last time, and in her new depowered state what possible hope did she have of defeating/reimprisoning them on her own? (And from her perspective it would have been on her own. Ugin never answered the first call, there's no reason to assume he would or could answer if she called again. Sorin had already betrayed her. There wasn't a Gatewatch yet, or at least she wouldn't have known about them if there was.)
While possible I don't think it's likely. Other than the initial surprise tackle, Nahiri's fight with Avacyn seemed pretty one-sided in Nahiri's favor until Sorin stepped in. Though Avacyn seemed like she could easily overpower neowalkers, she didn't seem to be on par with oldwalkers at that time. (that's not to say that once the church was more established she couldn't have grown into such power, but she didn't seem to possess it at the time)
If Nahiri WASN'T somehow incapable of protecting Zendikar then it makes NO SENSE that she wasn't there to do so. Doubly so her being mad at Sorin for not doing something she herself apparently couldn't be bothered to do. If she weren't trapped.
Nahiri's arc, and her still being alive at all, makes no sense UNLESS she was both incapable to returning to protect her home plane, and in some sort of life-prolonging stasis like state.
The helvault is the solution that the SOI story has been pointing at since long before MaRo's comment.
Sorin's puzzlement at Nahiri's whereabouts is likely being retconned.
It really is possible that no, she simply didn't know how to realign what was left of the hedrons the way that Ugin did.
That's the only visible mutation I've spotted so far.
EDIT: Lone Wolf of the Natterknolls has lattice work scarring on his side.
I'm not certain about that. It looks like it could simply be an artifact of the piece's rougher technique to me.
Given that we're still a few weeks from official previews, the lack of main plot advancement is likely intentional.
Nope. Ashiok isn't from Theros. They were just on the plane experimenting with/studying the plane's more unique properties; devotion, nyx and the gods.
We don't know where they're from or really much about them at all.
I don't really feel strongly that it's one way or the other, just pointing out another possibility.
A succinct and informative summary.*
Any big bad other than Emrakul simply doesn't really work with what we know of Nahiri's involvement. Particularly given that she's still a (partly or primarily) white character. To tie her to any other threat is going to require the story to jump through a lot of hoops.
*My only minor quibble is that, other than the initial surprise attack, Nahiri seemed to be winning fairly handily against Avacyn until Sorin intervened.
Basically.
The Gatewatch took down Ulamog and Kozilek, Ugin showed up called them stupid, and told Jace to go find Sorin.
Yep. His comment was that JACE wasn't from Ravnica (and thus shouldn't be the Guildpact).
Yeah. I never included that card in with the other mutations cause I just assumed that was the mole it was patterned on.
The ghouls and cultists and what not could well simply be cannon fodder meant to slow Sorin down to buy her the time ahe needs.
How is she still alive this long after the mending? Presumably she didnt age while locked away. For her its essentially only been a year or so since she had a physical form TO age.
If she was alive then why wasn't she there to help keep the eldrazi imprisoned? Cause she was in the helvault.
Why is she so mad at Sorin? Cause he essentially betrayed her, sacrificed her plane, and then locked her in a cell with demons for a thousand years. (We know from I Am Avacyn that there is some level of awareness and interaction within the helvault. Avacyn felt the touch of demon wings.)
Why didn't she try fighting the eldrazi on Zendikar? Because it took the god-like power of three oldwalkers to trap them last time, and in her new depowered state what possible hope did she have of defeating/reimprisoning them on her own? (And from her perspective it would have been on her own. Ugin never answered the first call, there's no reason to assume he would or could answer if she called again. Sorin had already betrayed her. There wasn't a Gatewatch yet, or at least she wouldn't have known about them if there was.)