Some of the races like Vedalkin and Merfolk have had... interesting art histories, to say the least. The excuse for Vedalkin having six fingers on Kaladesh and only five on Ravnica and Esper is really a post-hoc justification for the early weirdness of four armed Mirran Vedalkin, for instance. And they only created the Vedalkin because they were unreasonably self-conscious about the traditional merfolk having tails... you get the idea. The lore can be rather slapdash at times, especially when you pull back the curtain and look at how the company developed everything. Sometimes they did so with loving care, sometimes the right hand didn't even care what the left hand was doing.
I am perfectly fine with this. Real-world mythologies, religious doctrines, oral traditions, and cultural lore feature many examples of this same kind of development. Some may accuse it of artifice, but it's actually perfectly organic: this is just one way stories evolve.
I can just tell the gist of the ending. I could be wrong and I hope I am. A real plot twist would be Bolas doesn't lose, but he doesn't win either.
That was already the "twist" back in Alara block, with the Conflux War. It turns out that ambiguous, inconclusive showdowns don't usually make for satisfying endings.
Bolas needs a taste of true pain. After ten years, it's finally time to take this sucker out for good.
Anyway, Gideon and Liliana are the heroes of this finale, not Jace. Jace may play a major role in undermining Bolas's plot, but he won't be the one to strike the decisive blow.
Oh, Jace. Last time you went toe-to-toe with Bolas, you got curbstomped so badly that you woke up on a desert island a thousand planes away, unable even to remember your own name.
But yes, tell me more about how much better you are than Bolas, on principle.
And also....I can't take seeing the gods all eternalized (except Bontu) they where so innocent (not Bontu) and honesty I feel worse for them since they where indirectly (not Bontu) leading their people, world and themselves to just be Bolas puppets.
I really hope Samut can bring some sense of vengeance for Amonkhet.
^ This post made me think back to Rhonas's death in Hour of Devastation. I went and posted the story excerpt on the Rhonas thread, but I figure it's more than relevant to share it here as well.
Rhonas wept.
And as he wept, his tears turned from heartbreak to rage, and Rhonas spat the foul name, his dying heart filled with fury and pain.
Nicol Bolas.
As darkness crept in on the edges of his vision and he felt the last ties of his spirit to his physical form disintegrate, Rhonas looked upon the gruesome visage of the (scorpion) god behind him. And though his bodily eyes already filmed over with a milky white, he saw the god's true nature—the tiniest flickers of flame in its heart, surrounded by utter darkness, the original light and soul of his brother buried beneath vile corruption. This god was once one of the original eight, corrupted and repurposed to become a slayer of the very siblings he once held most dear.
"Brother," Rhonas whispered.
Rhonas felt the scorpion's stinger retract, felt his muscles spasm and tense, felt the quickening approach of death. And his heart broke: for his three lost siblings, for the mortals who perished, for those he guided in supplication to a foul falsehood.
And the Strength of the World faded, his immortal light sputtering in the consuming shadows.
And as he wept, his tears turned from heartbreak to rage, and Rhonas spat the foul name, his dying heart filled with fury and pain.
Nicol Bolas.
As darkness crept in on the edges of his vision and he felt the last ties of his spirit to his physical form disintegrate, Rhonas looked upon the gruesome visage of the (scorpion) god behind him. And though his bodily eyes already filmed over with a milky white, he saw the god's true nature—the tiniest flickers of flame in its heart, surrounded by utter darkness, the original light and soul of his brother buried beneath vile corruption. This god was once one of the original eight, corrupted and repurposed to become a slayer of the very siblings he once held most dear.
"Brother," Rhonas whispered.
Rhonas felt the scorpion's stinger retract, felt his muscles spasm and tense, felt the quickening approach of death. And his heart broke: for his three lost siblings, for the mortals who perished, for those he guided in supplication to a foul falsehood.
And the Strength of the World faded, his immortal light sputtering in the consuming shadows.
--Rhonas's dying moments from Hour of Devastation Part 3: Hour of Glory.
2. Bah, in the new teaser about Bolas' Plan they basically say "in the end (pun intended)it did not matter where the heck he would go"... But on Ravnica there is the Interplanar Beacon, that might be a better reason.
The main thing that bothers me about this trailer is how utterly awesome and bestial Bolas looks, more so than in any other representation. Like, that shouldn't be a problem, but now even the new Bolas art from Swanland (up on the main website) doesn't do it for me. Swanland always did my favorite Bolas art (slick, serpentine, and shiny) but now after seeing Dragon/Minotaur/Balrog Bolas in this trailer, I never want to see Bolas any other way.
I'm interested in how Izzet is a Bolas-aligned guild with what we now know. If Ral is really a sleeper agent, why would Dovin need to stop the device? If he's a double agent, then Izzet isn't really Bolas aligned, right?
This is totally confusing me as well. Anyone with the art book able to shed some light on this?
This can't be taking place concurrently with the Ixalan Block. Vraska would still be on Ixalan if that were the case. It simply doesn't work.
Here's the timeline as I understand it:
1.) Hour of Devastation. Mindwrecked Jace flees to Ixalan.
2.) Jace spends three months questing for the Immortal Sun with Vraska. The Ixalan story explicitly states, multiple times, that their time together equates to three months. Being generous, let's give Jace a half-month on Useless Island. So Ixalan Block ends roughly 3.5 months after Hour of Devastation. Ixalan Block ends with Jace Planeswalking to the Weatherlightand Vraska going back to Bolas/Ravnica.
3.) Jace arrives on the Weatherlight and informs Gideon of Bolas's plans. The Weatherlight Crew is en route to their showdown with Belzonlok. How much time elapses between this moment and the end of Dominaria's story? Let's be supremely generous and give it a full month of travel time (Dominaria's a big world), which gives Vraska just enough time to get set up on Ravnica and spend a couple weeks as guild leader before the Gatewatch shows up for the final showdown on Ravnica.
So at most, we're about 4.5 months after Hour of Devastation. And a month after the end of the Ixalan story.
I am perfectly fine with this. Real-world mythologies, religious doctrines, oral traditions, and cultural lore feature many examples of this same kind of development. Some may accuse it of artifice, but it's actually perfectly organic: this is just one way stories evolve.
Dimir and Izzet make no sense whatsoever--they HATE each other.
Same with the Orzhov and Azorious.
And definitely the same with Boros and Gruul.
I could see ten guilds merging into five, but I just don't see them breaking this way.
That was already the "twist" back in Alara block, with the Conflux War. It turns out that ambiguous, inconclusive showdowns don't usually make for satisfying endings.
Bolas needs a taste of true pain. After ten years, it's finally time to take this sucker out for good.
Anyway, Gideon and Liliana are the heroes of this finale, not Jace. Jace may play a major role in undermining Bolas's plot, but he won't be the one to strike the decisive blow.
But yes, tell me more about how much better you are than Bolas, on principle.
Are we also getting a Finale of Glory, A Finale of Revelation, and a Finale of Eternity, leading up to the Elder Spell, perhaps?
^ This post made me think back to Rhonas's death in Hour of Devastation. I went and posted the story excerpt on the Rhonas thread, but I figure it's more than relevant to share it here as well.
And as he wept, his tears turned from heartbreak to rage, and Rhonas spat the foul name, his dying heart filled with fury and pain.
Nicol Bolas.
As darkness crept in on the edges of his vision and he felt the last ties of his spirit to his physical form disintegrate, Rhonas looked upon the gruesome visage of the (scorpion) god behind him. And though his bodily eyes already filmed over with a milky white, he saw the god's true nature—the tiniest flickers of flame in its heart, surrounded by utter darkness, the original light and soul of his brother buried beneath vile corruption. This god was once one of the original eight, corrupted and repurposed to become a slayer of the very siblings he once held most dear.
"Brother," Rhonas whispered.
Rhonas felt the scorpion's stinger retract, felt his muscles spasm and tense, felt the quickening approach of death. And his heart broke: for his three lost siblings, for the mortals who perished, for those he guided in supplication to a foul falsehood.
And the Strength of the World faded, his immortal light sputtering in the consuming shadows.
--Rhonas's dying moments from Hour of Devastation Part 3: Hour of Glory.
And now I'm ****ing crying.
What teaser was this?
Cool card, though.
Just wait until you see what kind of insects he replaced their heads with. Oketra probably has the head of a fly, or something worse.
That roar at the end. Wow.
This is totally confusing me as well. Anyone with the art book able to shed some light on this?
Here's the timeline as I understand it:
1.) Hour of Devastation. Mindwrecked Jace flees to Ixalan.
2.) Jace spends three months questing for the Immortal Sun with Vraska. The Ixalan story explicitly states, multiple times, that their time together equates to three months. Being generous, let's give Jace a half-month on Useless Island. So Ixalan Block ends roughly 3.5 months after Hour of Devastation. Ixalan Block ends with Jace Planeswalking to the Weatherlightand Vraska going back to Bolas/Ravnica.
3.) Jace arrives on the Weatherlight and informs Gideon of Bolas's plans. The Weatherlight Crew is en route to their showdown with Belzonlok. How much time elapses between this moment and the end of Dominaria's story? Let's be supremely generous and give it a full month of travel time (Dominaria's a big world), which gives Vraska just enough time to get set up on Ravnica and spend a couple weeks as guild leader before the Gatewatch shows up for the final showdown on Ravnica.
So at most, we're about 4.5 months after Hour of Devastation. And a month after the end of the Ixalan story.
Please let me know if I'm overlooking anything.