What are the Eldrazi?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 มิ.ย. 2024
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The Eldrazi return in Modern Horizons III, but are we any closer to understanding the motives of these mysterious creatures? - เกม
I was running a DND campaign set on theros and one of my players was trying to convince me their character could raise their intelligence level to be able to understand eldrazi..... I immediately shot them down by going Jace and ugin couldn't understand them.... Ain't no way a random raven man born on shandalar and yeeted to theros by way of convergence (kind of like the omen paths but more like the convergence from Thor the dark world) can understand the spegeti monsters
What do you mean by understand - like language wise or graps their concept? For this I would try to take a page out the Lovecraftian books where the entities are so complex the sane human mind fails to understand them. But throughout the mythos there have been attempts at it like Egyptian mages successfully banishing Nyarlothotep or crazed natives chanting Chtulhu verses.
My dm law is to never say no and if I were you I'd maybe let the player do their thing to get a snippet or a glimpse at these titans but prepare madness rules. There are some great rp and mechanic ones in the DMG, Matt Mercer's corruption rules is free on dmsguild and you could even take a look at the Kickstarter free sample of Steinhardt's Guide to the...[sth eldritch] for even more indefinite craziness.
I also really like that how mostly only the mentally impaired can visualise these "gods" and you could go on the route of decreasing that Intelligence instead of raising it for that flavorful thang on this ordeal.
Edit: my previous comment doesn't show up, so there you go again
Unless he was the "Chosen One". DND is about playing make believe. It's never fun with a DM that always says NO to flavor.
I would say "An Ant could never raise its intelligence enough to understand the people walking by. They don't even sense us properly because they use pheromones. We are so large and alien and incomprehensible to them than an ant will NEVER understand a person. What makes you think you could comprehend the Infinite nothing people from the nonexistant space between worlds?!"
@@Dothreban you have a point and I do respect that a good DM always at least allows an attempt at whatever the player wants to do..... However if I allow this, that means I have to somehow figure out how to understand the eldrazi...... Which we have already established isn't impossible yet it is so far outside the realm of possibility currently that it might as well be.
@@Dothreban I'm guessing the DM didn't choose him if he immediately shot it down
I’ve just been thinking about this since new phyrexia: How will the Eldrazi react to the Sylex detonating in the blind eternities?
Emrakul was too busy camping out in Innistrad's moon, playing Nintendo, when all of a sudden she heard a loud BANG outside, and wondered what all the ruckus was about... before going to back to playing her game...
This was actually insightful. The fish bowl analogy really works. Perhaps what we know of the separate entities of Kozilek and Ulamog are actually the combined Ulalek.
Right hand and left hand of the same being? 🤔
@@chrayezI came here to suggest just that, but I think the lore insert for the eldrazi precon implies that they're separate beings, and Ulalek is two of them working together in a specific way
@@ChronoBolt I believe that in the Precon it says sonething along the lines that something like Ulalek happens when both Kozilek and Ulamog's influence affects the same being
Ulalek is what happens when Ulamog and Kozilek reach into the same plane, at the same point, at the same time. It is an abomination of nature, and that is saying something when Eldrazi are involved. When that occurred, it potentially created an independent entity named Ulalek, but that is just a theory. Everything I say here is taken from the precon pamphlet I have sitting in front of me.
Emrakul has to be part of that somehow, also... like the BRAIN of the entire operation, or something, seeing as how she's the most important of the three.
In that case, this being should be referred to as ULALEKRAKUL! lol
Cosmic Horror has a fundamental conflict at its very heart.
For a story to work, we need to understand it, the characters, the stakes, the rules of the world... But cosmic horror is born out of ignorance, from trying to understand something and failing miserably, from the knowledge, It's the complete powerlessness of not even being able to grasp just how screwed you are.
The eldrazi, and any comic horror, need to strike a balance between being understood and being incomprehensible. I'm not saying that we shouldn't learn more about them, but whatever we learn should be vague, maybe even confusing, and raise even more questions.
We should learn more about the eldrazi, but never understand them. The moment we don't have to speculate too much about them, the horror is just gone.
That's why I love the last sentence Emrakul tells Jace. It makes enough sense to hint at a motive or purpose, yet it only makes things more confusing.
This is why I also think printing Ulalek is genius. Just dropping the fused titans and refusing to elaborate.
Ignorance is not the source of fear in cosmic horror; knowledge is.
In cosmic horror the closer you get to the truth the worse the horror is, even if you cannot get all the way there.
Every bit of knowledge gained only serves to increase the scope of the threat and never provides anything more than an increasingly temporary solution at best and an insanity causing revelation at worst.
E.g. A bunch of weird cultists are a dime a dozen and solvable, learning there are more of these cults across the globe working in tandem to summon their God is troubling but learning that the physics defying deity they worship is not only real but actively on its way and all you did was slow it down for a decade or two is life changing in the worst way, and then learning that it is merely one of dozens of others all equally indifferent to your existence in a bad way is life ruining.
That's what the eldrazi should be.
Your analogy is surprisingly accurate. Hats off to you loremaster!!
Amazing to get Eldrazi content from you! I find them fascinating and definitely my favorite monsters in MTG. I'm currently running a D&D campaign where we are at the final chapter trying to make sure Ulamog doesn't make contact with the world and start annihilating it!
Sounds cool!
My theory is that Eldrazi are native to (or maybe were created by) the plane of Equilor, the oldest known plane in Magic. Urza visited the place to get some help against the Phyrexians and while the elders of the plane did impart Urza with great knowledge of the Multiverse (implying that they know more about the Blind Eternities than an _actual planeswalker)_ they also shrugged off the Phyrexians as inconsequential.
Two reasons why I think this is the case: First, Bloodhill Bastion confirms that there is _something_ weird-fleshy-tentacly going on there. Second, Jace wants to reset the Multiverse which is something very Eldrazi-like but needs a map to do it... maybe it's just for Vraska's convenience, but Equilor is explicitly described as "distant", so maybe another explanation is that trying to reach it without both directions and a vehicle (thus Death Race!) would be impossible.
Very interesting theory. 🤔 I like this. 😁 Should give the writing team at Wizards a call. I think they need help.
To explain this killing of Ulamog and Kozileg using the fish bowl analogy, imagine being able to move the person's heart to their hand in the fish bowl, and then stabbing said heart. That will kill someone outside the fish bowl with just their hand in it.
I only just watched a video on the Eldrazi from The Lorebrarians but I love how Ryan presents content that I had to watch this too
Honestly, weird connection, but the idea of the Eldrzi being attracted to "advanced" planes made me think of Kamigawa - which, essentially in the past few millennia while the Titans were sealed away, became the first plane we know about to advance technologically past, like... medieval-era fantasy stuff.
Pure headcanon but it would kind of explain why the Magic multiverse was trapped in that "fantasy stasis" - planes that got too juicy and too advanced with mana-harnessing technology inadvertently attracted some big multiversal dudes to eat them.
I managed to build my eldrazi commander deck! I’m so happy!!!
My Eldrazi deck is so fun. Big stupid creatures. Colorless shenanigans. By far my favorite deck, but be prepared to be the enemy of the table 😂. Hope yours is just as fun and you love it just as much as I love mine
@@bryandlfful I call mine the skittering terror. It’s not fully ready as I still need to add a few mana rocks but I love it nonetheless. It’s annoying when I get it running. Endless spawns and Scions.
@@bryandlfful who is your commander?
Just started binging your series on the omenpath arc, I don't think I've ever properly read the story, but I think I'll start with the next arc
I'm in the reset camp for what purpose the eldrzi serve, as you alluded to Ugin states that the multiverse is infinite but is finite. The eldrazi could serve as a way to take planes that are about to reach a critical point that could cause it to explode and release unwanted energy into the multiverse, this way the eldrazi drain planes and allow them to be reborn thus the eldrazi are a cycle of death and rebirth
Very good video, thanks! Love the Eldrazi, such a cool idea to have these otherworldly creatures running around.
Even with no advancing plot, Ulalek is such a fascinating addition
Secret Lair X Mass Effect, can’t wait to put Krogans in my Time Lord Sauron decks.
As far as I can tell, there is no reason to believe that Emrakul, Ulamog, and Kozilek are the only three "Eldrazi Titans" out there. Sure, we have had other legendary Eldrazi, but I'm not sure they are "titan" status.
The resulting question is: Would you as a player rather see those three Eldrazi Titans return in future sets, or would you rather WotC introduces us to other titanic spaghetti monsters?
It would be nice if they close out Emrakul’s story first before they introduced other Eldrazi titans. Not mandatory, but you know what I mean.
@@NeroVingian40 I am not disagreeing, but if we are to remain in the dark about their origin and past, is it not fitting that we remain in the dark about their future?
Love the Outro, as always.
It would be super cool to tie the planewalker's transplanar abilities (maybe even the omenpaths) into the nature and existance of the Eldrazi as the Blind Eternity's natives. Could even tie it back into the Mending as some sort of catalyst for provoking the Eldrazi back into activity.
Love the videos! Commenting so I see y’all across my feed again soon
Eldrazi ARE like Jazz and this is why i'm eagerly awaiting 'Whispers of Emrakul' by the Innistrad Eldritch Orchestra. Should be out by the next new moon
yes!! been waiting so long for this!
Yay! Missed you Ryan!
cool! just watched a video yesterday about this. great vid
Slight correction / maybe just addition? You claimed that no living things exist in the Blind Eternities accept maybe the Eldrazi. There are other living things that dwell on the "shelf space". Examples are trees such as The World Tree and Realmbreaker along with creatures on those trees such as Koma and Toski. It's also possible (theaoretically) that other beings we are aware of came from there as well, Marit Lage comes to mind. Love you work keep em' coming!
I love the Eldrazi as they are now. Please don‘t explain too much.
i was hoping there would be a clash between the phyrexains and the eldrazi where maybe one isnt so bad knowing the other as a massive threat
Honestly, I was really hoping that they would show up in March of the machines when realm breaker punched holes into the blind eternities.
I would think of the planes as planets, so planeswalkers basically can jump from planet to planet, then the Eldrazi would be space monsters just as you said. Sort of galactus eating planets/planes. But I would like to see them featured in an upcoming big event.
I really thought that they were going to play into some angle where the eldrazi were basically decomposers for planes of excess Manna in order for the other planes to receive Mana. I was very disappointed when that was probably not at all true.
I would posit that the Eldrazi serve a similar purpose to something like a Galactus, from Marvel comics. A necessary entity whose role is to correct the imbalance between Eternity and Death (both as personified in the comics' cosmic cosmology). Galactus also served as a buffer against a character called Abraxas, who is mainly a destroyer of any and all things within the (Marvel) Multiverse. It's also said that Galactus takes the form of something recognizable before whoever gazes upon him, which is more effort than what the Eldrazi are capable of.
Given their affinity for mana rich planes like Zendikar, I'm more inclined to believe that the eldrazi are more of a mana distribution system. If one plane has an abundance of mana, them consuming it would dissipate it and send it outwards to other planes, or even use that energy to create brand new planes.
I've never heard any theories on if the eldrazi have a "purpose" in the cosmic scale of things. I'm content with them just being big bad villains that mindlessly eat planes. Zendikar was enticing already with all its mana, the hedrons amplifying the leylines just made them tastier.
Though it is cool that Emrakul seems to have some sort of sentience. They all probably do.
I can't wait for her to hatch out of that big old moon and give us another dose of cosmic horror on Innistrad, even if it means another another revisit to the plane.
I was picturing Ryan's voice coming out of Ugin when he was explaining the Blind Eternities using the Fishtank Parallel, lmao
Fun Fact: I voiced Ugin in a Spice8Rack video.
@@MagicArcanum YOOOOOOOOOO, HOW DID I MANAGE TO MISS THAT!!! It makes so much sense now
Can we all admit that we all are indeed so jealous of Ryan's moustache?
Maybe some not to light magic might help to make him tell us how he does it.
Does anyone else remember that scene with Urza and Teferi in the blind eternities and there are fingers clawing into time bubble?
I genuinely think is an eldrazi trying to claw in and really hope this gets built on more
My head cannon is the Eldrazi Titans are the chaotic natures of the multiverse manifested in a physical form. The very concept of entropy, thought, and desire.
So you can't "kill" them, not without killing the aspect of the universe they are manifested as.
I think the Eldrazi are pretty cool, but I'd say it's one of those cases where the mystery is more interesting than the answers. To add to that, I think Wotc themselves don't even know what to do with them. Ulamog and Kozilek were obliterated and it seems there was no consequences to the multiverse so far. And Emrakul imprisoning herself in the moon was another case of Wotc bottling their villains for a potential future use again (like Bolas).
Slight correction / maybe just addition? You claimed that no living things exist in the Blind Eternities accept maybe the Eldrazi. There are other living things that dwell on the "shelf space". Examples are trees such as The World Tree and Realmbreaker along with creatures on those trees such as Koma and Toski. It's also possible (theoretically) that other beings we are aware of came from there as well, Marit Lage comes to mind. Love your work keep em' coming!
As Magic is a game based on exceptions to rules, there are also some exceptions within the stories, but even most of your examples are still arguable. Realmbreaker (or The Invasion Tree) was grown on New Phyrexia / Mirrodin. The Planeswalker assault team went there to plant the cylex bomb in its roots, specifically. Its branches did eventually break through the Blind Eternities, but I don't think we can say that tree "lived" there.
Kaldheim's World Tree is another curious case. It does seem to exist outside the realms we visited, but it's also visible FROM most of those realms, so it behaves differently from anything else that is entirely "within" the Blind Eternities. One way this would be possible is if all the Kaldheim realms are actually contained within some sort of "super bubble" and the Tree connects them, and creatures like Toski and Koma can also move around within the bubble, but are still not exposed to the actual maelstrom of the Blind Eternities.
That, or those guys have some version of a planeswalker spark that we haven't yet fully explored.
Anyway, in a very general sense, nobody really calls the Blind Eternities "home." Toski might pass through it as he scampers around the branches of the World Tree, but it seems he still prefers to live on solid ground when given the chance.
@@MagicArcanum I concur with the "super bubble" explanation. From the Planeswalker's Guide to Kaldheim article we have this section: “The space between realms, a nebulous space filled with shifting lights like an aurora, is known as the Cosmos. It's challenging, but not impossible, for denizens of one realm to cross the Cosmos and enter another realm.” Since it’s explicitly stated that an average person can cross between the realms of keldheim with some preparation, and it explicitly has a set appearance and does not share the blind eternity's trait of shifting appearances based on the beholder, we can safely conclude that all of keldheim’s realms + the tree + the cosmos is a part of a giant plane that is only partially habitable.
I sincerely hope Wizards does not try to explain the Eldrazi. Eldritch creatures should not make sense or be explainable.
If we believe Raven Man, Emrakul creates planes. Might be the ulamog erases everything to a blank state and Kozilek prepares it for Emrakuls creations
I find the prospect that the gatewatch defeated two titans to be frankly ridiculous.
That tends to be the issue with introducing eldritch horrors into stories that aren't cosmic horror.
@@xXSamir44Xx I'm not against eldritch-inspired beings being defeated by heroes in whatever story it may happen to be, I'm against what's established as a massive threat that three oldwalkers banded to seal being defeated by better-than-average pyromancy and other such things that shouldn't be putting a dent on the kind of threat the titans were established to be.
@@opinionofmine3238 I agree with you on that. It's a common problem with stories that have very powerful characters in the background and less powerful ones as the focus, unfortunately.
The metaphors and way you crafted the explanation is 100% on point. You need to write the story henceforth, thanks In advance 😂😂😂
TL;DR: you don’t kill an Eldrazi, you slap away their hand.
I feel like we did a deep dive on these freaks
They are just big cute and cuddly spaghetti monsters who wanna cuddle !! What’s the crime !
One word: Brisela.
12:00, would that be a bad thing?
The Fallout and WH40K sets were awesome. And two of my favorites were the Mutants and the Bugs. So, why not e Locusts deck too!
What if the eldrazi are there to stop things like the omen paths from forming? Or to stop like the interconnectedness of planes like with the phyrexians invading?
Cos since they're been gone mtg has changed the blind eternities a lot
I am a "the Eldrazi recycle dying planes" believer. We don't know the signs of a dying plane yet, and Zendikar could be one.
They're my beloved babies 🤗❤️
Wasn't it emrakul herself explaining to Jace's elusion, in that moment when she actually captures tamiyo to imprison herself in fhe moon, wasn't it at that moment that emrakul explained that they are a cosmic recycle system drawn to dying planes? Dying planes emit a lot of mana into the blind eternities and then the eldrazi come and do their job which is, ulamog consuming all of the rest that is alive, kozilek then resetting the laws of nature and finally emrakul seeding new life on the so prepared plane. Ugin was able to trick them to invade zendikar via the hydrons and they actually were surprised themselves that the plane was resisting that much as it usually is not the case. After nahiri lured emrakul to inistrad to take revenge on sorin by lithoforming similar hydrons as those on zendikar, emrakul finally came to the conclusion that something is not right and she finally took control of tamiyo to stop the distortion of inistrad which emrakul herself deemed to be unrightful in the end. Jace was only able to gather this information through his illusion so he would not immediately die due to emrakuls mind touching his mind, something he could not directly withstand. The way you depict it here is that it is all known through ugin, so maybe i got it wrong, or did you just leave all that out for the sake of brevity? Cool video, and I think as you do, that it is really great that specifics about the eldrazi and the eternitirs are left vague and it actually is a big part of their appeal. I hope wotc never tries to explain the missing parts as it can only get worse from here.
i wonder if another wandering true eldrazi will come into contact with the omenpaths
Ayo?
Well for me I would like see a new story about them. I mean if there's no story then people just going guess and really in my opinion they should make a new story instead guessing in my opinion. And awesome video as well
Maybe the answer is Kaz/elik, Fused Atrocity. If too much of themselves were lost during thier battles with SUPER Chandra on Zendikar, maybe the only way they could survive was to take what was left and mash themselves together?
Actually, WHY Bolas decided to release them is just as interesting as the HOW.
I would now Like a Mass Effect Secret Lair
can be a good point if the Eldrazi attack people traveling in the Omenpath. Do we now if the travel in omenpath/plainswalking is instant like a portal or they need to move between plane ?
Omenpaths are inconsistent. If they function like Kaldheim's, then some are like doorways while some are like tunnels. They vary in size and shape.
10:20 I thought the plan was to pull them in all the way before the channel fireball. Ugin got really mad at the gatewatch for doing their stunt, but I was so sure it was because two of the titans were now "dead" [assuming they can truly die . . . they are eldritch horrors after all]
@@Highstar7331 no you’re right, Nissa used the planes laylines to pull the two titans in like a friend pulling you in to the pool while Chandra used the leylines to boost her fireball
@@OneoftheVoice Thanks! A rare Magic Arcanum whoops moment.
What’s your theory on what Ulalek’s purpose is/why it was created?
According to the package, Ulalek is an Eldrazi that only appeared once, long ago on a plane that has already been consumed. It's possible their creation was an accident, or an experiment, or the plane in question had some unique trait that necessitated a special variant Eldrazi, but none of that really matters now since this is ancient history.
Ugin over here going: if I had a nickel for every time we were able to lure the eldrazi into a trap I'd have 2 nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.
Edit: question, were the eldrazi already on zendikar when ugin, sorrin, and nahiri imprisoned them? If not then how did they find out the eldrazi exist? If so, then what about zendikar could have drawn them to the plane? The roil? The ancient civilization that nahiri was trying to bring back?
No, Sorin, Ugin, and Nahiri encountered the Eldrazi on other planes. They were a sort of mini gatewatch of their day. Once they identified the threat, it took about 40 years for Nahiri to craft enough hedrons to make Zendikar into a suitable containment spot. Sorin followed the Eldrazi for that time and was supposed to warn Ugin and Nahiri if the titans got 'close" to Zendikar, but they never did (at least not until the trap was activated)
The roil is actual a byproduct of the entrapped Eldrazi, so that came later. That was the plane trying to purge itself of the dangerous prisoners.
@@MagicArcanum oh yea, I forgot about that..... Ok so back to square 0 on this one.....
The biggest hint to their purpose can be found in Gatewatch vs Eldritch Moon. Emrakul said Innistrad wasn't ready for her nor was she ready for it but none of the titans had the same thoughts for Zendikar. Which means Zendikar did meet the "conditions" for their purpose
That or those two were just starving 😂 press X
The blind eternities and also be inhabited by Demons. as demons can cross through the blind eternity to other planes
I don't remember that happening, at least not in any post-Mending story. Do you have an example?
And what is marit lage in relations to the eldrazi?
Marit Lage and the Eldrazi were created fifteen years apart, so they probably have no deeper relationship than as separate interpretations of the Cthulhu mythos by different Creative teams.
I always wanted to know more about marit lage and since they are similar i hoped maybe they'd connect the retroactively, like maybe marit lage was a powerful mage who somehow achieved to cut a part of the eldrazi of and was able to take it and connect it to him/herself or something like that.
Spaghetti mommy time!
10:54 Is that so? I thought it was a spell from Tamyio and Nissa.
(Tamiyo and Nissa seal Emrakul in Innistrad's moon)
PS: I just found the answer to myself:
,,She revealed that she had been possessed and that the scroll's spell had not been of her design, but of Emrakul."
I still want to leave this comment, just for the algorithm. 😄
Eldra-deez
Didnt you make a video like this already?
Yes, several years ago, for the TCGplayer channel back when I worked there. With the Eldrazi returning for Modern Horizons III, it felt like a good time to revisit the topic and discuss what we've learned since the original video (not much)
@@MagicArcanum ahaa, makes sence, damn that was a long time ago, time flies, well it was a great video in anycase as always, keep up the great work and have fun 😁
I would love if the made a Eldrazi Planeswalker.
What would be the point in that? Eldrazi can already travel between planes.
@@xXSamir44Xx Because we could have a new colorless Planeswalker with Eldrazi-like abilities.
RETURN OF THE ELDRAZI would, at any rate, be a great idea for a FUTURE block-level story that Wizards could explore in the future. Fans would eat that up, particularly if it answers the questions regarding Ulamog, Kozilek, and, most importantly, EMRAKUL!
I think answering those questions would ruin the Eldrazi on a fundamental level.
How to underrstand the Eldrazi:
1. Look at spaghetti
2. Look at the monster
3. Look at the spaghetti monster
4. Become corrupted by spaghetti monster
5. You are spaghetti monster
6. Spaghetti
Primo!
JJ Abrams mystery box bullshit. i’m sorry to be maybe overly critical and negative of their storytelling, but that’s how I feel.
However, your video was excellent.👍
Disagree. More like consistent with their source material, Lovecraftian unknowable creatures.
How can you look at Emrakul and still tell me there's no romance in MTG 🥲