Lilliana : Take this artifact and tell them I'm dead. Dovin: Return to ravnica and tell them I'm dead Tezz: Take this artifact and return to Ravnica and tell them I'm dead. Good plot there folk.
"She picks Iora as her last name" oh that's kinda cute, it's something small but could be show her growth and real appreciation for a frie-- "Not intentionally tho', it just rhymed with the new plane!" That... Can't be real. It's too dumb to be real.
My guess is it's just what Liliana tells herself, she doesn't seem like the type who would go all mushy and sentimental like that and not have a cover for herself
Remember that story when Liliana did everything she could to get rid of the Chain Veil and it returned to her instantly? Good to know that she was only being weird that day. Really, everything in the book is wrong.
I think there were a few reasons that they should have broken up (e.g. lack of trust after Nissa abandoning her and the gate watch) but this was entirely the wrong way to do it.
I love how you can turn such a horrid and despicable abomination of novel into some semblance of an actual story. I even thought for a moment, "Hey that actually sounds like an interesting, good book." I could listen to you tell stories all day, even if they're pretty bad stories.
Gatewatch goes to Theros: "Alright, let's bury Gideon." Gods, at each other, and the escaped titans: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Gatewatch: "...Alright, let's just peace out."
Gideon: As planeswalkers, we can always choose to run! But we are the ones who can also choose to stay and fight! Gatewatch on Theros: Now that he's dead, let us honor his memory... by nopeing right outta this and living to see tomorrow!
@@happydetectivevalentine3009 and the complete butchering of Jace/Vraskas relationship is straight up misery, Jace and Vraskas and relationship as well as Ixalan in general was some of the best writing MTG has ever had and for this book to just murder it is sacrilege
@@madlib7108 when reading the story I actually couldn't believe how good their relationship was seeming, I kinda hoped they would find some peace and understanding with each other. I mean, vraska knows Jace better then almost anyone now
@@madlib7108 personally i think greg didnt like the couple to beginn with so he did his best to remove it. remember he wanted to end it in the first book but that was annuled afterwards.
What's funny about this part is that such is included in the novel. It's like how the first novel assumed that Jace and Liliana slept together as well. I mean, we all have an idea how a relationship would escalate over time without the need of details. We needed more information of what happened post-War, not this or that. Instead, Weissman is writing for thirsty teenagers. He should just write a side story called "50 Shades for Jace" while he's at it. Yet in the end, the best I could do now is just accept the fact that this is the lore. Which is kinda sad.
Yes I started with a lot of hope and I liked the vraska lied about killing baan thing, but the fact that ALL of them didn't killed the target sounds a lot like lazy writing. I loved the idea of evolving Liliana after Gideon's sacrifice, but not this way. She is still Liliana after all and I don't think Liliana would never ever fall in such a desperate and confusionary state. I wish someone took Waissman's work and made it better, because overall I liked the story. It's just some of the characters that weren't well managed. Although, I have to say I like Rat and the formation of a team with Kaya and Teyo. Liliana should have stayed liliana though.
I don't hate Rat, but I'm fully aware of how much of an Author Favorite she is. Kaya was given a super special ability no other Planeswalker has, just so Rat can tag along on her and Teyo's adventures. She's got super unnoticeability powers that make her invisible to anyone except whoever is specified as being immune for the sake of narrative convenience. And she's also a Dimir sleeper agent that can be activated into a super assassin, but gets to be a blameless hero type at all other times because she doesn't remember being an assassin. It's weird how, with her invisibility and everyone who might have known her being minor characters (or, in the of Weisman's Rakdos OC, now no longer remembers being friends with Rat and incapable of seeing her), Rat only functionally exists within Greg Weisman's works. Or are we to believe that Rat will eventually be given her own card? (Granted, having her be a flipped card that goes from Good Girl to Dimir Assassin would be cool).
@Anzu Wyliei This was before the Mending, when the rules of the MtG universe changed. Post-Mending, only Planeswalkers can go from plane to plane, as a rule. Exceptions are rare, and include the temporal gateway Tezzeret used to transport the Eternals to Ravnica. And the Eternals needed lazotep plating to "survive" the trip. Kaya is the next exception, according to this book.
The most interesting thing about The Wanderer is: while all other Planeswalker have to focus to planeswalk, she has to focus "not to planeswalk". It is literally the opposite effect for her. Whenever she goes to sleep she wakes up on a different plane. I am very curious about what Karn, Teferi and Ajani will do on Dominaria. Karn wants to obliterate New Phyrexia using the Sylex thing (assuming that thing still exists and wasn't destroyed). Jaya was very ballsy in some parts: the way she went into the assembly of the Ravnican Guilds and Niv-Mizzet was a bit badass. Lazav is weird, he is also colaborating with Teysa Karlov. I feel EXTREMELY bad for Ugin. His whole life he had to live under the pressure of his brother's actions, and now he has to watch over him till Bolas dies? Shit man...
I find it hard to believe the wanderer isn't dead. When ajani planeswalked for the first time, he fell on jund on a ledge and almost died. When the gate watch arrived on amonkhet they were in the desert, which was full of zombies, when garruk planeswalked to eldraine he was in the wilds, which is a weird shitty place. My point is you don't always end up on a city all the time. If she's planes walking while she sleeps then there is a high chance she would die before she wakes up.
@Anzu Wyliei It's not that she can't planeswalk when she's awake, it's that she's able to stop her self from planeswalking when she's awake. When she's asleep though, that's when she can't stop planeswalking. She's more than capable of planeswalking on purpose though.
Here's hoping what happens in War of the Spark: Forsaken stays in War of the Spark: Forsaken, and that War of the Spark: Forsaken stays in a forsaken bargain bin.
calling it now: Ana Iora will see Lili colour shift into white-black, and we will certainly see that sooner than we will see Sorin show up to do anything fun. :(
i AM very curious to see what she is and isn't going to continue to use of her necromancy abilities. it seems like a long shot that she'd give them up entirely, but it would be a pretty tough cover story otherwise.
@@SventFulgur I remember that others heard it, only because Chandra remarks on it afterwards and specifically tells him that he will never be Kytheon to her, only Gids
I have an idea for her next card. A flip Planeswalker card. It actually starts as a Liliana Planeswalker card. Her third ability will be a minus 0 that flips her into a legendary creature Anna Iora.
@@k9commander Maybe the reverse, her revealing herself to the rest of the group when her specific abilities are needed or when they all start to distrust her
Seriously who gave this man that I've never even heard of the A-OK to go ahead and butcher multiple fan favorite relationships, ruin previously established character development, and also play fast and loose with hard lore rules oh yeah I can just take people with me while planeswalking now lmao, stuff like that is how we eventually get to a comic book situation where nothing matters because anyone can be brought back to life at any moment One off random paragraphs where we throw out established lore rules is how in a few years we get to a point where anyone can go anywhere and planes don't matter
Kaya planeswalking someone with her is not an issue. The issue is how it was presented. We have been told that Planeswalkers can't take living things with them through the Blind Eternities. Thanks to Kaya's powers, her companion isn't alive while their traveling. It is similar to the Lazotep plating the Eternals use to cross over. I just wish it had been portrayed better.
Thankyou for taking the hit and telling me the things I need to know without paying for/ touching/ having to subject myself to this car crash of piss poor prose!
The book was such a let down. I really hope the writing improves for next sets. The big final confrontation between Nicky B was so terribly handled by Greg.
I wouldn't say it was handled terribly by Greg, it was handled terribly by the WotC creative team. They're the ones who put the story together, Weisman just had to put it onto paper. Yes, he did a terrible job with it, but it's not like he had a lot to work with.
ArixOdragc I disagree. Even if it was the creative team that had the story Weisman had to write, Weismans’ inability to make it compelling by any stretch of the imagination speaks volumes for his ability or lack thereof. This is me saying a comment. Which I could. And I have.
That's my point though - the "final confrontation" wasn't compelling to begin with. I'm not saying the book was good, because it wasn't (and it isn't, because it's not, and wasn't), but like I said, he didn't have a whole lot to work with in the first place. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to actually write these books ("You have to do it by this deadline, and it has to feature all these characters, and these exact events, and it needs to fit in with all these previous years of setup, and you need to somehow make this terrible story compelling in the first place"). Which of course doesn't completely excuse the fact that they're terrible, but I'm just saying that the blame doesn't rest _solely_ on Weisman.
Yeah, it _could_ have made a compelling story - the big problem is that said "omnipotent dragon", the main villain and perhaps the most major character in the story, is such a shallow, one-dimensional nothing of a non-character that it's hard to care about anything he's doing, which in turn makes it hard to care about anyone trying to stop him from doing it. That's my biggest (although far from only) problem with the story - it's impossible to see Bolas as a threat because he's so flat and lifeless, turning what might have been an interesting war story into nothing more than yet another excruciatingly generic defeat-the-evil-guy fantasy "epic". And the responsibility for that rests squarely on the creative team, not Weisman himself. Also can we talk for a second about Gideon's dumbass sacrifice, because it is, as far as I see it, representative of the story as a whole - done not for the sake of telling a compelling narrative or because it was the right way for the story to go, but because the generic formula they were following demanded a heroic sacrifice and hey, Gideon's available I suppose.
Well, I found the set to be pretty fun (if a little too bomb-heavy for limited). Personally I found the trailer to be a little too heavy-handed, a little too style over substance, but the animation at least was indeed fantastic. It's just a shame that the story, the thing tying it all together and the thing they were apparently so incredibly proud of, was so abysmal.
As someone who owns six MTG books, (Mirrodin and Kamigawa) I have to say I am very disappointed with the last few books in the MTG story. I really couldn't invest myself into the characters this time around, and some of them are really interesting when you actually think about them outside the story. However it seems that Wizards is kind of wiping the slate clean with a few characters, or at the very least separating the majority of them so they can have solo adventures or something. I would love to see some more effort put into telling these stories in the future, especially if they are going to put them out as actual novels. Thinking that having the huge player base will guarantee sales is not an excuse for poor writing or storytelling. Throne of Eldraine has so much potential for stories and they could have handled it better as well. But I do not work at Wizards nor am I a professional writer, so I can only voice my complaints into the vastness that is the internet.
I'm disappointed that Dovin died. He's a very good antagonist and if Lazav wants to do something to Ravnica he should have spared him because of his ability to see the flaws in about anything and I don't know... Threaten Ral to build prosthetic eyes for Dovin so that he can help Tezzeret and Lazav to do Dimir stuff.
I have only one criticism. You did such a good job summing this up that it made me think, can it really be THAT bad? This is dangerous since every lore source, up to and including you, seem to think it is hot garbage. Thanks for filling me in on where the story is so I can be well informed and not give them my money, thereby encouraging more hot garbage.
I was quite excited for the conclusion of the story, but the reviews of Forsaken made me forsake the will of reading it. I'm glad there is Magic Arcanum to tell us the important bits without having to endure that "book".
Rat isn't just invisible. She's imperceptible. Only people who are entirely and fundamentally open to change are perceptive enough to know she's there. I wonder if she will create a new mechanic, or if maybe she's just Shrouded and Unblockable. I'm mad that Jace and Vraska are falling apart. They're the only straight couple in a long time where their relationship was earned and too a long time to build.
That deletes my head cannon, about where Kaya was from Zhalfir where time had restarted after The Mending causing that section of Jamuraa having become it's own Plane as a result of the Multiverse shaking changes wrought by The Mending. In my head cannon Zhalfir would have a rich spirit layer much like Kamigawa, & many of the people of the Plane were advised by councils of Ancestor Spirits with Kaya acting as their hand in tracking & catching wayward Spirits & mortals who would ally with them for selfish reasons.
thanks for letting me know how utterly disappointing this book is! as if the first one was bad, forsaken takes the cake. Jace and Vraska were the two people i wanted to follow through and this book decidedly did not want that relationship to end on a high note.
Sounds confusing! I'm kinda glad Rat is sticking around though. Even though planeswalkers are less godlike now, I find it easier to connect with a character whose power is more low-key.
The only thing about the future Magic story that I'm focused on is the eventual SECOND WAR AGAINST PHYREXIA!! It's coming. We've already had clues dropped about it, in several other sets. We know that Phyrexia is moving, attempting to get beyond the singular Plane they are currently trapped upon. We know that Karn is trying to cook up ways to destroy New Phyrexia (the plane formerly known as Mirrodin). So we know that this storyline is going to pick up soon. Especially now that both the Eldrazi, and Nicol Bolas, are removed from the equation. I anticipate it's going to be the biggest fight since the Brothers' War! I just can't wait to see in what unusual ways the New Phyrexians have evolved since their toxic rebirth several years ago!!
Me, at the start of video: "Alright, let's see how they fixed/messed things up now." Me, by the end of the video: *clutching my face, groans of mental pain and laughter coming from me* "Nobody can just catch a break! Jace can't keep a steady healthy relationship, Ravnica is going to be fucked up *again*, and Chandra and Nissa are only a couple on Thursdays! Wizards, what kind of story is this? Just let Ryan and Spice 8 Rack write the books, for the love of Gideon!"
I started playing magic 4 years ago and thought the story was really cool and complicated, the articles every week were an absolute treat for me. It took one set and two books for them to throw it all away.
The only good thing of this book is the fact that Ryan Gomez is explaining it, otherwise this was another chance to butcher the lore of Magic The Gathering
So they just took a shit on the Planeswalker lore breaking one of the only rules of “You can’t bring other people with you”. Also Tezz should have just straight up killed Ral if he had a whole cover thing going with Lazav. They need to just set fire to both the ‘War of the Spark’ books and remove them from the more and rewrite as much as they can salvage.
Honestly, the ability that Kaya has to transport someone through the Blind Eternities is really cool. Acts as a nice foil to her "exile" abilities. I assume this will be shown on cards by returning a creature or Planeswalker from exile to the battlefield under your control.
Anna Iora 2BW. Im betting all my dollarydoos that it's gonna be a BW card. A woman with a light hair color, or at least not black, in more covering clothing. One of her abilities might deal with necromancy or necromancy-adjacent (Ergo, Clerics from DnD) like Lifelink or Life steal (Lose 2 gain 2, etc) Im glad Liliana aint dead though. I remember pulling her from Lorwyn packs back when I first started, good times.
Ana Iora is totally gonna be 3BW either as a planeswalker or a legendary creature and somehow having an ability for sacking life/loyalty counters for ressing creatures (neither becoming zombies [see Vengeful Bloodlord and vampires] or only ressing zombies) also Groucho Marx glasses for sure... also props to Lili for telling Crow Dude to stuff it.
Maybe we'll get another flip walker that starts as a legendary creature (or maybe still a planeswslker). Her front side being Anna Iora, then her flip could be a true Lilliana depicting some sort of revelation about her identity, or some kind of growth, or choice she will face in that set. Or maybe vice versa. We get a Lilliana, that flips into an Anna Iora, illustrating her metamorphosis in that regard.
Theory: Bolas & Ugin's egg (from their birth, not a new wyrmling) is the gem of becoming and the meditation realm/pools of becoming/prison realm. The hedron Ugin is in may be linked directly to it. Got this theory from learning about D&D astral dragons and it gave me the idea. Since D&D has been a WotC brand for a while now, I figured some ideas/concepts may crossover...like Ravnica just did.
@@endruler8625 yeah, there is a passage in which one of the Orzhov triumvirate (who is a vampire) tries to seduce Tomik and it plays out like the start of a 70's adult film. Greg Weisman at his finest.
Good shot on predicting "Liliana type line, not Liliana name", but who could have known that the Anna Iora thing would have been discarded by that point... 😸
So like i know the wanderer is probably a new character but the fact that she has a golden mask kind of reminds me of that mask given to people who escaped through Theros’ underworld. Kind of like what Elspeth in the official art for Theros Beyond Death
The Wanderer can track planeswalkers after leaving, which is new. But... Jace found Gideon during the first Dominaria story, using what are implied to be normal planeswalker powers and tracked him precisely to Weatherlight.
I'm a shill for the lore, I never take short cuts, but due to everything I'm hearing about the book I just can't justify paying for it this time. Thanks for putting this together in an easy to swallow video
wow. so they sent a GORGON and an INVISIBLE PERSON to kill the BLIND GUY.
perfect.
was it ever confirmed that he was blinded permanently? I assumed it was temporary.
@@Nazgul100 Didn't he received 2 ninja stars into his eyes ? I assumed it was permanent
Nazgul100 He lost his goddamn eyes my guy
In all fairness Vraska has OP gorgon powers where she just needs to look at you to turn you, whether or not you make eye contact.
😂😂😂
Lilliana : Take this artifact and tell them I'm dead.
Dovin: Return to ravnica and tell them I'm dead
Tezz: Take this artifact and return to Ravnica and tell them I'm dead.
Good plot there folk.
And two out of three times, it works every time!
Arlano yeah, seems about right.
Tho Dovin was hiding on Ravnica as "Ha its the last place they will expect me to hide!"
@@MagicArcanum It is like the naked man.
@@MagicArcanum Man, who it's hard to find some good killers those days
I mean... Anna Iora should totally just have the ridiculous nose-with-a-mustache-and-pair-of-glasses disguise.
Groucho Marx is the guy that the mask takes after.
Dovin the Blind Architect
Groucho Vess
With the crappy story they did, that sounds like a real thing, they would do
Dude don't give wotc ideas for next year planeswalker design.
Anna Iora is going to have "Never met a Liliana before" as her flavor text
Who’s Lili?
"hello? sorry the old lily can't come to the phone right now... why? oh, cause she's dead"
Can the card art just be Liliana with a baseball cap and sunglasses? Like the MCU classic disguise?
Or white Liliana would be cool, I mean white in art like white dress
Its going to be Liliana with Superman Glasses
It's insane how at the same time the mtg story became something you need to pay more for and also something much MUCH worse.
"She picks Iora as her last name" oh that's kinda cute, it's something small but could be show her growth and real appreciation for a frie--
"Not intentionally tho', it just rhymed with the new plane!"
That... Can't be real. It's too dumb to be real.
My guess is it's just what Liliana tells herself, she doesn't seem like the type who would go all mushy and sentimental like that and not have a cover for herself
Remember that story when Liliana did everything she could to get rid of the Chain Veil and it returned to her instantly? Good to know that she was only being weird that day. Really, everything in the book is wrong.
Supposedly Ugin's Spirit-Gem was what enabled her to put it down this time, but...yeah. I dunno man.
I litteraly paused the video, 'cuz i thought: "Oh no, he did not write that." this ist like... A huge Deal. the fuck man...
i'm disappointed to hear that she gave up 2 artifacts, i was like damn, she's mad powerful now..but nope.. stupid writers
Love how he called the Cabal jobbers "draft-chaff", perfect name.
Can we just retcon the whole book?
yes please
God yes please!
Dear god yes please!
No
Core Set 2021 is a Teferi themed set. Do your thing time mage.
Forsaken was a perfect title, because boy that sure is how I felt after reading a summary of the book.
Kasmina isn’t in either of the books because it would cost 2 more.
Sir, this is a Wendy's !!
i think anna's card will look similar to how lili dressed as a healer's apprentice since thats probably what she'd consider her best self
Why does Wizards have to keep doing Chandra/Nissa so dirty. just let them be happy together damnit
Chinese conspiracy to sell novels
Give me two happy (potentially lesbian) planeswalkers Damnit!
Because China
I think there were a few reasons that they should have broken up (e.g. lack of trust after Nissa abandoning her and the gate watch) but this was entirely the wrong way to do it.
It has nothing to do with China since they Ral Zarek is gay and very obvious about it. Just a bad author.
You know when you see the title of a video, and the first thing you think is "ooooh boy, here we go"?
I love how you can turn such a horrid and despicable abomination of novel into some semblance of an actual story. I even thought for a moment, "Hey that actually sounds like an interesting, good book." I could listen to you tell stories all day, even if they're pretty bad stories.
Gatewatch goes to Theros: "Alright, let's bury Gideon."
Gods, at each other, and the escaped titans: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Gatewatch: "...Alright, let's just peace out."
Gideon: As planeswalkers, we can always choose to run! But we are the ones who can also choose to stay and fight!
Gatewatch on Theros: Now that he's dead, let us honor his memory... by nopeing right outta this and living to see tomorrow!
I actually really hope that this entire book is removed from cannon.
Super Turtle seems about right. The Nissa/Chandra relationship should be continued.
@@happydetectivevalentine3009 and the complete butchering of Jace/Vraskas relationship is straight up misery, Jace and Vraskas and relationship as well as Ixalan in general was some of the best writing MTG has ever had and for this book to just murder it is sacrilege
@@madlib7108 when reading the story I actually couldn't believe how good their relationship was seeming, I kinda hoped they would find some peace and understanding with each other. I mean, vraska knows Jace better then almost anyone now
But this book gives a possibility of having wanderer in theros
@@madlib7108 personally i think greg didnt like the couple to beginn with so he did his best to remove it. remember he wanted to end it in the first book but that was annuled afterwards.
I haven't been this disappointed in a piece of MTG lore since the last War of the Spark book
"Can't wait for a serious and composed lore analysis by my favourite moustache man"
14:10 "Vraska and Jace *BANG* "
Mustache Minute absolves me of being serious and/or composed ;-)
What's funny about this part is that such is included in the novel. It's like how the first novel assumed that Jace and Liliana slept together as well. I mean, we all have an idea how a relationship would escalate over time without the need of details. We needed more information of what happened post-War, not this or that.
Instead, Weissman is writing for thirsty teenagers. He should just write a side story called "50 Shades for Jace" while he's at it.
Yet in the end, the best I could do now is just accept the fact that this is the lore. Which is kinda sad.
Good God I hate Rat. Also this entire book is just "It Was Lazav"
Yes I started with a lot of hope and I liked the vraska lied about killing baan thing, but the fact that ALL of them didn't killed the target sounds a lot like lazy writing. I loved the idea of evolving Liliana after Gideon's sacrifice, but not this way. She is still Liliana after all and I don't think Liliana would never ever fall in such a desperate and confusionary state. I wish someone took Waissman's work and made it better, because overall I liked the story. It's just some of the characters that weren't well managed. Although, I have to say I like Rat and the formation of a team with Kaya and Teyo. Liliana should have stayed liliana though.
I don't hate Rat, but I'm fully aware of how much of an Author Favorite she is. Kaya was given a super special ability no other Planeswalker has, just so Rat can tag along on her and Teyo's adventures. She's got super unnoticeability powers that make her invisible to anyone except whoever is specified as being immune for the sake of narrative convenience. And she's also a Dimir sleeper agent that can be activated into a super assassin, but gets to be a blameless hero type at all other times because she doesn't remember being an assassin.
It's weird how, with her invisibility and everyone who might have known her being minor characters (or, in the of Weisman's Rakdos OC, now no longer remembers being friends with Rat and incapable of seeing her), Rat only functionally exists within Greg Weisman's works. Or are we to believe that Rat will eventually be given her own card? (Granted, having her be a flipped card that goes from Good Girl to Dimir Assassin would be cool).
@Anzu Wyliei This was before the Mending, when the rules of the MtG universe changed. Post-Mending, only Planeswalkers can go from plane to plane, as a rule.
Exceptions are rare, and include the temporal gateway Tezzeret used to transport the Eternals to Ravnica. And the Eternals needed lazotep plating to "survive" the trip. Kaya is the next exception, according to this book.
The most interesting thing about The Wanderer is: while all other Planeswalker have to focus to planeswalk, she has to focus "not to planeswalk". It is literally the opposite effect for her. Whenever she goes to sleep she wakes up on a different plane.
I am very curious about what Karn, Teferi and Ajani will do on Dominaria. Karn wants to obliterate New Phyrexia using the Sylex thing (assuming that thing still exists and wasn't destroyed).
Jaya was very ballsy in some parts: the way she went into the assembly of the Ravnican Guilds and Niv-Mizzet was a bit badass.
Lazav is weird, he is also colaborating with Teysa Karlov.
I feel EXTREMELY bad for Ugin. His whole life he had to live under the pressure of his brother's actions, and now he has to watch over him till Bolas dies? Shit man...
I find it hard to believe the wanderer isn't dead. When ajani planeswalked for the first time, he fell on jund on a ledge and almost died. When the gate watch arrived on amonkhet they were in the desert, which was full of zombies, when garruk planeswalked to eldraine he was in the wilds, which is a weird shitty place. My point is you don't always end up on a city all the time. If she's planes walking while she sleeps then there is a high chance she would die before she wakes up.
@@rodneydaliege8909 she's probably constantly planeswalking during that time. I imagine she spends a second or two on each plane, and then disappears.
@@benpeterson4673 ah. Fair enough.
@Anzu Wyliei It's not that she can't planeswalk when she's awake, it's that she's able to stop her self from planeswalking when she's awake. When she's asleep though, that's when she can't stop planeswalking. She's more than capable of planeswalking on purpose though.
I commend you, sir, for discerning the events of an actual trash fire. I'm surprised your mustache did not get burned off.
Here's hoping what happens in War of the Spark: Forsaken stays in War of the Spark: Forsaken, and that War of the Spark: Forsaken stays in a forsaken bargain bin.
calling it now: Ana Iora will see Lili colour shift into white-black, and we will certainly see that sooner than we will see Sorin show up to do anything fun. :(
i AM very curious to see what she is and isn't going to continue to use of her necromancy abilities. it seems like a long shot that she'd give them up entirely, but it would be a pretty tough cover story otherwise.
she must have remembered that Oketra called him Kytheon Iora.
Did she say that out loud? I thought that was a telepathic conversation, although it's been ages since Amonkhet story so I could easily be mistaken
@@SventFulgur I remember that others heard it, only because Chandra remarks on it afterwards and specifically tells him that he will never be Kytheon to her, only Gids
Can we start a petition to just make this whole book non-canon?
The old books were so good, and the new books are so so bad.
i like how the dimir guildmaster is conspiring with Tezzeret who is also dimir
I feel like Liliana/Anna may slowly shift from a B to a BW Planeswalker over time if her arc continues this way.
I have an idea for her next card.
A flip Planeswalker card. It actually starts as a Liliana Planeswalker card. Her third ability will be a minus 0 that flips her into a legendary creature Anna Iora.
@@k9commander that would be a cool take on the flip walkers that i want to see now
That's already Sorin. I think black is the right color for her.
@@k9commander Maybe the reverse, her revealing herself to the rest of the group when her specific abilities are needed or when they all start to distrust her
Gideons hieromancy had to have left some mana on her!
"and they defeat the rest of the draft chaff hanging around the manor" actually got me. Well played sir.
Seriously who gave this man that I've never even heard of the A-OK to go ahead and butcher multiple fan favorite relationships, ruin previously established character development, and also play fast and loose with hard lore rules
oh yeah I can just take people with me while planeswalking now lmao, stuff like that is how we eventually get to a comic book situation where nothing matters because anyone can be brought back to life at any moment
One off random paragraphs where we throw out established lore rules is how in a few years we get to a point where anyone can go anywhere and planes don't matter
Welcome to Core Set 2022 where anyone can go anywhere and the planes don't matter, we are your hosts Nic Kelman and Greg Weisman
Kaya planeswalking someone with her is not an issue. The issue is how it was presented.
We have been told that Planeswalkers can't take living things with them through the Blind Eternities. Thanks to Kaya's powers, her companion isn't alive while their traveling. It is similar to the Lazotep plating the Eternals use to cross over. I just wish it had been portrayed better.
@Anzu Wyliei Pre-mending planeswalker were effectively gods. Except every god we have seen where significantly weaker.
I just hope that’s the story is going in bad direction doesn’t make you stop making this awesome videos.
Keep the good work.
I'm so happy the mustache minute is staying.
Thankyou for taking the hit and telling me the things I need to know without paying for/ touching/ having to subject myself to this car crash of piss poor prose!
“Don’t screw this up Weiss”
-Big brain dragon
The book was such a let down. I really hope the writing improves for next sets. The big final confrontation between Nicky B was so terribly handled by Greg.
I wouldn't say it was handled terribly by Greg, it was handled terribly by the WotC creative team. They're the ones who put the story together, Weisman just had to put it onto paper. Yes, he did a terrible job with it, but it's not like he had a lot to work with.
ArixOdragc I disagree. Even if it was the creative team that had the story Weisman had to write, Weismans’ inability to make it compelling by any stretch of the imagination speaks volumes for his ability or lack thereof. This is me saying a comment. Which I could. And I have.
That's my point though - the "final confrontation" wasn't compelling to begin with. I'm not saying the book was good, because it wasn't (and it isn't, because it's not, and wasn't), but like I said, he didn't have a whole lot to work with in the first place. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to actually write these books ("You have to do it by this deadline, and it has to feature all these characters, and these exact events, and it needs to fit in with all these previous years of setup, and you need to somehow make this terrible story compelling in the first place"). Which of course doesn't completely excuse the fact that they're terrible, but I'm just saying that the blame doesn't rest _solely_ on Weisman.
Yeah, it _could_ have made a compelling story - the big problem is that said "omnipotent dragon", the main villain and perhaps the most major character in the story, is such a shallow, one-dimensional nothing of a non-character that it's hard to care about anything he's doing, which in turn makes it hard to care about anyone trying to stop him from doing it. That's my biggest (although far from only) problem with the story - it's impossible to see Bolas as a threat because he's so flat and lifeless, turning what might have been an interesting war story into nothing more than yet another excruciatingly generic defeat-the-evil-guy fantasy "epic". And the responsibility for that rests squarely on the creative team, not Weisman himself.
Also can we talk for a second about Gideon's dumbass sacrifice, because it is, as far as I see it, representative of the story as a whole - done not for the sake of telling a compelling narrative or because it was the right way for the story to go, but because the generic formula they were following demanded a heroic sacrifice and hey, Gideon's available I suppose.
Well, I found the set to be pretty fun (if a little too bomb-heavy for limited). Personally I found the trailer to be a little too heavy-handed, a little too style over substance, but the animation at least was indeed fantastic. It's just a shame that the story, the thing tying it all together and the thing they were apparently so incredibly proud of, was so abysmal.
pretty good draft chaff joke. thanks for saving me from reading it.
But the real question regarding the death of Dovin Baan, were more shurikens involved??
Nope. Just fire, a sword, a hologram, and a knife. (Not kidding about any of that, by the way.)
@@MagicArcanum Lazav: Hey Tar? What have you got there?
Tar: A KNIFE!
Dovin (stabbed): NO!
when you say it the book sounds really good
I really want the wanderer to be radiant reborn after she realized she was the one going mad/Serra showed her mercy.
As someone who owns six MTG books, (Mirrodin and Kamigawa) I have to say I am very disappointed with the last few books in the MTG story. I really couldn't invest myself into the characters this time around, and some of them are really interesting when you actually think about them outside the story. However it seems that Wizards is kind of wiping the slate clean with a few characters, or at the very least separating the majority of them so they can have solo adventures or something.
I would love to see some more effort put into telling these stories in the future, especially if they are going to put them out as actual novels. Thinking that having the huge player base will guarantee sales is not an excuse for poor writing or storytelling. Throne of Eldraine has so much potential for stories and they could have handled it better as well. But I do not work at Wizards nor am I a professional writer, so I can only voice my complaints into the vastness that is the internet.
I've heard the ranting, raving rambles of a mind shattered hobo that make more sense than the MTG storyline. #InBolasWeTrust
What happens? *"Ajani grins his leonin grin"*
"We now know what Kaya's homeplane is and that's where she's heading next."
WotC: Yeah, about that...
I'm disappointed that Dovin died. He's a very good antagonist and if Lazav wants to do something to Ravnica he should have spared him because of his ability to see the flaws in about anything and I don't know... Threaten Ral to build prosthetic eyes for Dovin so that he can help Tezzeret and Lazav to do Dimir stuff.
I have only one criticism. You did such a good job summing this up that it made me think, can it really be THAT bad? This is dangerous since every lore source, up to and including you, seem to think it is hot garbage. Thanks for filling me in on where the story is so I can be well informed and not give them my money, thereby encouraging more hot garbage.
if you turn the chain veil upside down it's the planeswalker symbol.
I was VERY interested in how you'd cover this. Thanks for being as fair and entertaining as I'd hoped.
And then they defeat all the draft chaff left in the manor.
Heartbreak and garbage.
Describing the book, not this wonderful channel! 😉
"They had us in the first half, not gonna lie."
I enjoy your rythm of story telling! :)
I feel like rat is just a get out of jail free card at this point. A really bad one too.
I was quite excited for the conclusion of the story, but the reviews of Forsaken made me forsake the will of reading it. I'm glad there is Magic Arcanum to tell us the important bits without having to endure that "book".
Kind of dissatisfied we didn’t get an Anna Iora card in M21, but I get not doing it to save confusion.
At first I hands down was so convinced the Liliana Imposter had to be Oko.
Rat isn't just invisible. She's imperceptible. Only people who are entirely and fundamentally open to change are perceptive enough to know she's there.
I wonder if she will create a new mechanic, or if maybe she's just Shrouded and Unblockable.
I'm mad that Jace and Vraska are falling apart. They're the only straight couple in a long time where their relationship was earned and too a long time to build.
That deletes my head cannon, about where Kaya was from Zhalfir where time had restarted after The Mending causing that section of Jamuraa having become it's own Plane as a result of the Multiverse shaking changes wrought by The Mending. In my head cannon Zhalfir would have a rich spirit layer much like Kamigawa, & many of the people of the Plane were advised by councils of Ancestor Spirits with Kaya acting as their hand in tracking & catching wayward Spirits & mortals who would ally with them for selfish reasons.
You deserve my view/like just for saving me the trouble of reading a book that I've not heard a single positive thing about.
Relaying the events of the book to spare us the pain of reading it. Praise be and a hearty patreon subscription to our brave friends at Magic Arcanum.
thanks for letting me know how utterly disappointing this book is! as if the first one was bad, forsaken takes the cake. Jace and Vraska were the two people i wanted to follow through and this book decidedly did not want that relationship to end on a high note.
Sounds confusing! I'm kinda glad Rat is sticking around though. Even though planeswalkers are less godlike now, I find it easier to connect with a character whose power is more low-key.
Hello Ryan Gomez do you think that they will go back to the aftermath of war of the spark ??
The only thing about the future Magic story that I'm focused on is the eventual SECOND WAR AGAINST PHYREXIA!!
It's coming. We've already had clues dropped about it, in several other sets. We know that Phyrexia is moving, attempting to get beyond the singular Plane they are currently trapped upon. We know that Karn is trying to cook up ways to destroy New Phyrexia (the plane formerly known as Mirrodin). So we know that this storyline is going to pick up soon. Especially now that both the Eldrazi, and Nicol Bolas, are removed from the equation.
I anticipate it's going to be the biggest fight since the Brothers' War! I just can't wait to see in what unusual ways the New Phyrexians have evolved since their toxic rebirth several years ago!!
Me, at the start of video: "Alright, let's see how they fixed/messed things up now."
Me, by the end of the video: *clutching my face, groans of mental pain and laughter coming from me* "Nobody can just catch a break! Jace can't keep a steady healthy relationship, Ravnica is going to be fucked up *again*, and Chandra and Nissa are only a couple on Thursdays! Wizards, what kind of story is this? Just let Ryan and Spice 8 Rack write the books, for the love of Gideon!"
I started playing magic 4 years ago and thought the story was really cool and complicated, the articles every week were an absolute treat for me.
It took one set and two books for them to throw it all away.
Hey we found out who the wander is finally on kamigawa 2
Maybe we can just get Oko to turn this boom into a 3/3 elk, ignoring all the text that was in it. Get a fresh start!
Thanks for doing this. I was so looking forward to it. Keep up the great work!
The only good thing of this book is the fact that Ryan Gomez is explaining it, otherwise this was another chance to butcher the lore of Magic The Gathering
Came back to rewatch a bunch of these, pretty good guess at how we'd next see a Liliana. 👍
You explained the plot way better than how the book did, thank goodness
I tried to read this and boy I could not follow it and put it down. Thanks you :3
So they just took a shit on the Planeswalker lore breaking one of the only rules of “You can’t bring other people with you”. Also Tezz should have just straight up killed Ral if he had a whole cover thing going with Lazav. They need to just set fire to both the ‘War of the Spark’ books and remove them from the more and rewrite as much as they can salvage.
So nice to see the greatest mustache on TH-cam once again 🙌
Honestly, the ability that Kaya has to transport someone through the Blind Eternities is really cool. Acts as a nice foil to her "exile" abilities. I assume this will be shown on cards by returning a creature or Planeswalker from exile to the battlefield under your control.
You get an anticlimax, you get an anticlimax, everybody gets an anticlimax!!!
man this channel will grow very
fast
Anna Iora 2BW. Im betting all my dollarydoos that it's gonna be a BW card. A woman with a light hair color, or at least not black, in more covering clothing. One of her abilities might deal with necromancy or necromancy-adjacent (Ergo, Clerics from DnD) like Lifelink or Life steal (Lose 2 gain 2, etc)
Im glad Liliana aint dead though. I remember pulling her from Lorwyn packs back when I first started, good times.
Ana Iora is totally gonna be 3BW either as a planeswalker or a legendary creature and somehow having an ability for sacking life/loyalty counters for ressing creatures (neither becoming zombies [see Vengeful Bloodlord and vampires] or only ressing zombies) also Groucho Marx glasses for sure... also props to Lili for telling Crow Dude to stuff it.
Was waiting for this. You crack me up dude
Im so happy to have stumbled across this channel. You got a new sub. Excellent content 👍
I smell a return of the madness mechanic when we visit Kaya's homeplane...
This is my FAVORITE novel summary EVER.
Maybe we'll get another flip walker that starts as a legendary creature (or maybe still a planeswslker). Her front side being Anna Iora, then her flip could be a true Lilliana depicting some sort of revelation about her identity, or some kind of growth, or choice she will face in that set. Or maybe vice versa. We get a Lilliana, that flips into an Anna Iora, illustrating her metamorphosis in that regard.
“Draft-Chaff” !!! LOL. Ahhh, Ryan and Nicole, you never disappoint!
A year later and Jace went to Zendikar and Kaya went to Kaldheim and I’m just wondering even more why this book was made.
Theory:
Bolas & Ugin's egg (from their birth, not a new wyrmling) is the gem of becoming and the meditation realm/pools of becoming/prison realm.
The hedron Ugin is in may be linked directly to it.
Got this theory from learning about D&D astral dragons and it gave me the idea. Since D&D has been a WotC brand for a while now, I figured some ideas/concepts may crossover...like Ravnica just did.
I got my popcorn, I'm so hype!
Lets go Ryan.
I feel like this isn’t as good a story as your phyrexian video will be
Can we put "Jace and Vraska bang" aside for a moment and focus on "vampire tries to bang Tomik"
Vampire?
@@endruler8625 yeah, there is a passage in which one of the Orzhov triumvirate (who is a vampire) tries to seduce Tomik and it plays out like the start of a 70's adult film. Greg Weisman at his finest.
@@VoidArchon oh yeah, I forgot about that...
You're a saint for reading that book and making this video so our eyes don't have to read that horrible thing🙌
Thanks for sharing this... interesting story...
Also, loved every second of mustache minute xD
Good shot on predicting "Liliana type line, not Liliana name", but who could have known that the Anna Iora thing would have been discarded by that point... 😸
Yeah I am both relieved and kinda sad that the idea of "Anna Iora" got dropped so quickly.
@@MagicArcanum Me too, considering I made it my D&D necromancy wizard's name >.>
Stories this convoluted and poorly written always remind me of the period of time before comic book companies would press the big ol' reset button
Liliana: In hiding
Dovin: Dead
Ral: Defeated
Jace: Smashing gorgon cooch
So like i know the wanderer is probably a new character but the fact that she has a golden mask kind of reminds me of that mask given to people who escaped through Theros’ underworld. Kind of like what Elspeth in the official art for Theros Beyond Death
inhabitants slowly going mad, where have seen this idea before
The Wanderer can track planeswalkers after leaving, which is new.
But...
Jace found Gideon during the first Dominaria story, using what are implied to be normal planeswalker powers and tracked him precisely to Weatherlight.
Awesome stuff. Please fill us in on all the lore of Theros please!!!!
Will do.
I'm a shill for the lore, I never take short cuts, but due to everything I'm hearing about the book I just can't justify paying for it this time. Thanks for putting this together in an easy to swallow video
Given Wizards’ recent announcement about Chandra, are you going to have a video on your thoughts and theories concerning it?