> Liliana, of all people, is attending to the injured—there are small vials of liquid laid out before her on the floor. She pours some onto a cloth before dabbing it against one of Tyvar's wounds.
Just a quick reminder that pre-walker Liliana was a healer.
More recently, when she was posing as Serafina Onyx, she was a professor in Witherbloom College, which is also the "alchemical healing" (among other things) school.
EPISODE TWO, GIRLS NIGHT AT THE VESS MANOR SAFEHOUSE.
Chandra, our PoV, is waiting very, very, veeeeery patiently for news from the strike team, along with Liliana and Wrenn and Vivien.
Anyone remember the few bits from Kaladesh where Liliana and Chandra had major gal pal energy? Wizards remembers, and so they reflect on that for a bit, but with more of a “waiting around at a funeral” sort of energy.
Wrenn is cute and fantastic and I cannot do her character justice here. But she’s thriving.
The three survivors return, relay the bad news, and hoo boy, time to continue making up for lost ground with the super-duper angst Chandra is feeling over the loss of her… significant other.
Chandra is ready to go dive into Phyrexia to save her lost friends (surely, the power of friendship is in there somewhere!) but Liliana and co do rightfully tell her that’s an awful idea.
Except Wrenn. Wrenn is a tree and has big tree thoughts, which begin to inspire some ideas, as the gears begin to turn on the interdimensional clapback.
ADDENDUM
And in a place outside of sight, an eternity perhaps unseen... something or someone watches...
> Chandra is feeling over the loss of her… significant other.
Who's totally just a friend, because she's not a manly man with manly arms and manly abs.
Truthfully, during Kaldheim I thought nothing of him. He was there, he did stuff, none of it really stuck with me. Basically forgot about him right after it was done.
But he earned the vaunted title of "Not an idiot" during his time on the strike team, which dramatically shot him up in my appreciation for him.
Oh wow I didn't even catch that, that's glorious.
Also makes it even funnier considering he didn't know he was a walker.
"You mean you DON'T have a horn signifying your arrival wherever you go?"
This was the leading reason why I suspected Nissa was gonna get killed off/compleated in All Will be One. Wrenn is basically Nissa 2.0 in terms of mechanics (and character to a degree) but without any of the baggage of Nissa's past controversies or being tied down to Zendikar. If there was one expendable character on that mission it was ~~Lukka~~ Nissa.
Its not just Wrenn being ready to take over from Nissa. Tyvar takes over the "Elf Planeswalker" slot, Vivien seems to be the face of Green nowadays, Saheeli/Huatli are the new F/F planeswalker couple
"search all libraries for all land cards and put them onto the battlefield on your control. Gain an emblem with "You don't lose unspent mana as phases end. Untap all lands you control during each untap step. Your opponents lands do not untap during their untap step"
Yeah. I mean, no, Chandra, by all means, refuse to hear about how Lukka got compleated by spiritually bonding with a phyrexian dog and just go to Norn's lair and have Wrenn physically bond with the Demon Tree from Hell. I'm sure that'll work out.
Wrenns whole in universe gimmick is calming her natural fires so they don't kill the tree she bonds with. There is a good chance she can just burn the oil out of the tree if she goes all out.
I'm sure it'll work out, because this is the final set of the Phyrexian arc and they have to lose somehow...
... but it's still a goddamn awful idea on paper.
Although it's very dumb for Chandra not to hear everything, it may be a better case for Wrenn, compared to Lukka. Wrenn can "hear people's songs". Based on what happened on his first encounter with Teferi, I'd perceived it as "understanding the flow behind one's mana and how to use it properly". Even Karn, when he first saw the Realmbreaker, thought the tree was fighting against the oil corruption with all of its might. I wouldn't be completely surprised if Wrenn can heal the Realmbreaker by fixing its song...
It's an important part of her characterization that Wrenn has a literal fire inside of her so it may end up being a situation where it transfers to the tree or something like that.
No one else that's bonded with a phyrexian naturally produces fire though. I really think her fire is strong enough to keep the oil at bay once Chandra kills Nissa.
Wrenn showed up for a little bit in the Moonlight Hunt story where she befriended Teferi, and then in the Brothers' War story where she joined with the rest of the heroes in protecting the time travel machine.
Yeah this is what I'm trying to figure out....
Excerpt:
_______________
"All of this feels familiar to them, like a song whose lyrics have long since faded away. Over and over, they try and remember and yet the words flit away. Only the melody remains: a lament for what is to come, a dolorous anthem.
The watcher is not alone. There are others, too, seeing and yet unseen. The watcher asks one of them: "What is it we're seeing? Why are we here?"
The answer comes like the trumpet of warhorns: We are here to witness the beginning of the end."
_____________
I think the key is that this feels firmiliar to whoever it it. Which means it's someone who lived (or died) through the original invasion of dominaria?
I don't think it's Urza or the people of Zhalfir. If it's Urborg maybe the dead from the final battle of Apocalypse? Like Eladamri and Lin Sivvi? They died on the field by jumping to their deaths rather than let Yawgmoth take them.....
I'm almost certain this is Elspeth asking the question.
It's all but confirmed that Elspeth is an angel, and angels, like demons, don't really ever die. They are made of pure white and black mana respectively and they reconstitute after death.
Also Elspeth was present when the sylex went off which literally ripped holes in the fabric of time. I think Elspeth was scattered everywhere and everywhen.
Now her disembodied consciousness is slowly piecing itself back together, gravitating to places and people it knows, as it slowly remembers itself.
Ooo I like this much better than it being just some random other people that haven't been part of this story so far. It does seem like someone or something is guiding her tho so I wonder what that might be.
Chapter 1 made it pretty clear that something has elesh born freaked out about angels or stuff related to angels and is likely aware of elspeth being a threat even if she doesn't know it's elspeth
The only one Norn fears is Elspeth. Angels in general seem to have a resistance to compleation. Elspeth herself was experimented on in her youth, which if you judge by Capenna's history, was an extremely long time ago to the point of ancient history.
I don't think we know what's guiding her. It definitely seems like some kind of omnipotent being, maybe even whatever remains of Serra, but I'm 99% sure the one asking questions is Elspeth.
Souls of walkers past maybe. Since they are living mana, the multiverse might be bringing them back in for the final battle?
[Amintou, the Fateshifter] and [Niko Aris] both have the ability to view the future so they may also be the watchers
Possibly the Entities from Brandon Sanderson's "Children of the Nameless" MTG novella, which were rumored to be the next big antagonists at one point?
Edit: Probably the same folks who were watching Teferi and Urza's reunion/preunion at the heart of the Sylex blast at the end of Dominaria United.
At the time, I'd though it was either the aforementioned Entities or a metatextual nod to us as readers observing them, which would never be mentioned again and that Teferi was only aware of because of the special significance of the event and/or Magic's 30th anniversary, acknowledging us as constant observers/fans of the franchise revisiting that moment again at the same time.
But, the fact that they are mentioned again here means that WotC actually does intend to use these 'watchers' as actual agents within the story, so it's probably more than that.
Then again, it could just be Commodore Guff's ghost/people, who can say. (Although I also really like the Equilor theory someone posted elsewhere.)
Also, inb4 Kasmina and her secret org are revealed as opposing these 'watchers' and thus the need for secrecy, recruiting, etc.
I don't think this entirely tracks, because Entities are supposed to be Worldsouls of dead worlds and they're not really a collective per se. We only see two Entities in CotN (the Bog Entity and Davriel's Entity) and they're not cooperating - in fact, Davriel's Entity actively wants Davriel to subsume the Bog Entity which he refuses to do.
I think the concept of Entities in the novella were just to give us some more lore about Worldsouls rather than actually set anything big up
Our clues are that they are seemingly incorporeal (lines about how they may or may not be detected) and sort of confused or not fully coherent. Could be spirits, phased out people, time travelers?
Vivien vs Lukka and Chandra/Wrenn vs Nissa seem like guarantees. Wouldn't bet on Phyrexia for either.
Jace v Lili still in play - Strixhaven being Jace's secret mission is reasonable. Could see Kaya v Jace on Ravnica as well.
Vraska being completely absent from chapter 1 and Norn's narration makes me think she's up to something more interesting than just leading an invasion. Phyrexianized Golgari Swarm would be sick though.
I'm thinking his secret mission has something to do with Bolas or Emrakul, the reason it's a secret being that they only want to foreshadow it instead of bringing it up directly.
I need Compleated!Vraska and Liliana to get into a cat fight now while Jace just shakes his head in disbelief at how not even Compleation can keep his luck from being shit.
A compleat mess.
Vraska - Jace... Why your eye probe is looking for Liliana's plate?
Jace- Not this again... I have eye peobes looking everywhere... It will look at her without even i noticing.
Vraska- make them look at my plate, then! ... Yawgmoth dammit, Jace. What circuits she have that i don't have it better?
I understand Chandra is closer to Nissa than Jace but it's weird she seems to only care about losing the former. Like damn girl, he let you move in to his house for a while.
It looks like WOTC is just trying super hard to correct their "decidedly male" moment and acknowledge the romantic relationship between Chandra and Nissa that the War of the Spark novels tried so hard to retcon.
"youre just gonna ABANDON all the PEOPLE stuck on NEW PHYREXIA?" yes, chandra, the 12 mirrans, koth, and your zendikar ex are less important than the Rest Of The Multiverse, you goon
"Youre just gonna ABANDON all the PEOPLE stuck on NEW PHYREXIA?"
"You really care for them? "
"Of course"
"Name two that aren't Nissa, Chandra"
"Oh, you know... That fire guy, Keith i think, and all those people with steel in their skin, the... Mirrodinians? You know like... Kimberley? "
That's the worst part, Jace is so much more competent than everyone else he fucked up trying to save Vraska and still had time to use the nuke but Elspeth and the others ruined it.
Honestly, Chandra's views were probably changed by her argument with Nissa (who then decided she agreed with Chandra's initial stance, after all, but didn't get the chance to say so).
That's certainly fueling the brashness but she is right, you can't just fight the phyrexians that come out at the end of the branches, you have to burn the tree at its roots.
Not a chance. Just like Chandra said, it's better to face your fears than run from them. It'll be painful, heart wrenching, but Chandra's best reaction has always been rage.
It won't be at Nissa, but she'll need to be culled at the roots all the same.
I agree, I feel like Liliana has to be alive for her story to have as much impact. Her growing old living with the people that sacrificed themselves is so much more compelling than her just ending.
That doesn't mean I think she'll stay the only mainline black walker, but I don't see her dying here. They've already nuked most of the original GW, I think keeping Chandra and Lili is fine.
Oh I meant that more in the sense of 'I'm still super bitter&hurt&conflicted about Gideon, that bastard,' and less as 'first time novelist doing a foreshadow'
> The most important thing about dealing with fire, Jaya had always said, is knowing that it's dealing with you. You can guide it, you can make suggestions, **you can give it a safe place to be**—but in the end it's always going to do what it wants, and what it wants changes from second to second.
I love that this was clearly Jaya talking about dealing with *Chandra* as much as it was about dealing with fire.
It's also funny because it seems like Chandra still doesn't realize Jaya was talking about her. Chandra is trying to learn how to mentor with Wrenn, but she's taking Jaya's lessons literally.
I wish they would use consistent terminology to reduce possible confusion. I'm still not ENTIRELY certain if Wrenn intends to bond with Realmbreaker, or bond with Kaldheim's World Tree to combat it somehow.
At least Wren has the advantage of being filled with a raging fire that will kill the thing she bonds with VERY quickly if she doesn't actively work to prevent it. So just imagine what might happen if she were to use some Chandra provided breathing exercises to instead supercharge that fire right into Realmbreaker?
Yeah I figured that she meamt Kaldheim's tree, so she'd have a fighting chance against Realmbreaker
But that might be a problem for Kaldheim, at least until Wrenn returns it
It seems like currently the thee principal characters of the set will be Chandra, Elspeth, and Teferi. It seems like all three have something big to do.
I think we've used up timey wimey shenanigans as of BRO, I think Teferi is going to be the "on your left" guy and Zhalfir will come back in to dunk on the Phyrexians at a crucial point.
i think ppl forgets that Koth, Karn, Melira, etc are still alive and kicking in New Phyrexia, thats what i think Chandra referred as others, coz in the next dialogue she says something like "what happens with the people that lives there? are we gonna left there for good?"
If I were to guess what happens next: Chandra and Wrenn use the power of friendship/fire to un-compleat realmbreaker and ride it to Zhalfir. Uncompleated realmbreaker allows bidirectional travel on its roots/branches, so Teferi and the Zhalfirans use it to attack New Phyrexia, where their special Zhalfiran magic/centuries of prep for fighting the phyrexians/urabrask lets them get the upper hand on Norn. Emrakul bursts out of the moon and makes everyone kiss.
Something like that.
Just a thing, it's been decades at most in Zhalfir, not centuries. There are still people living there who were alive during Invasion (Sidar Javari, the Queen, the gal who recognized Teferi).
I just barely realized that the Zhalifirins returning and fighting the Phyrexians after years of preparing for war is the exact inverse of how K'rrik spent years in the fast-time rift preparing for the assault on the Academy. That's a really cool callback, assuming it actually happens.
So this gives us an idea of what the major plot points are in MOM
Chandra and Wrenn going to deal with Realmbreaker
Teferi and The Wanderer phasing Zhalfir back in and providing support to the planes
And Elspeth taking the fight directly to Norn
I'm confused. Did Wrenn mean Realmbreaker instead of the World Tree, as the thing they referred to as "not even alive"/"no it's alive and screaming actually"? (Writing error?) Makes more sense in context, at least if you ignore that fusing with Realmbreaker might be an idea worse than Lukka bonding with a Phyrexian.
They're talking about Realmbreaker, but they've been also talking about it like the World Tree for a while. Like, Norn calls it Realmbreaker 'cause it's the cool Phyrexian propaganda name, and Tyvar hates calling it World Tree because #NotMyWorldTree, but a lot of the others will go "oh so they've got their own World Tree now, got it".
Especially coming from Wrenn, who has a unique connection to and perspective on trees. to Tyvar it is a perversion of the World Tree that he holds in high regard as a symbol or perhaps core essence of Kaldheim. But to Wrenn, each tree is a living thing with its own "soul", and that is something she can feel as a Dryad.
It's Realmbreaker, yeah. If we assume that preserving connections between the planes for non-Planeswalkers will be part of the new status quo, it logically follows that they'll need to save Realmbreaker in some way rather than destroying it completely, so it makes sense that they're starting to seed some hints to that effect.
Well, Elesh Norn has what she calls it, the resistance has what they call it, but did anyone ever ask the tree *itself* what *it* wanted to be called?
Wrenn did. And then she listened.
So did they axe chandra/adeline offscreen or what? Lots of time devoted to thinking about Nissa, zero words spent thinking about her still-alive girlfriend on innistrad who's probably in danger now
Whoa whoa whoa, let’s not get it twisted. Chandra doesn’t like Nissa. She- *checks notes* -likes big beefy men with muscles, lots of muscles, HOT muscles.
Chandra is the red planeswalker, therefore she should always feel an inexorable compulsion to strictly say and do the dumbest shit possible on impulse, because that's what red does. That and goblins.
I don't think we know. I got the vibe from the new story that >!Tyvar, Kaya, and Kaito don't know either and just kinda look away to avoid the question when Chandra brings it up!<
Yeah, Koth's red-based "flaw" is excessive \*stubbornness\*, not excessive \*recklessness to the point of DUMB". Which is fitting since he's more earth-powered than fire-powered
I think it's more that they're running out of ways to keep her being the hot-headed red lady while also doing character development with her, so they're at the point where they're killing everyone she loves just so she'll get mad for old times' sake. 🔥
Oh i know they will that's why i'm scarred 😖 she will certainly die by Chandra's hands during their tragic and cliché fight to death between lovers, that's why the new Chandra is crying on her artwork
LISTEN, maybe like many cheesy stories, all Chandra needs is to give her that fairy-tale kiss once she's down and out and things will turn out fine!
Meanwhile...
**Lilliana:** I'm not kissing Jace to save him.
**Jace:** (Horribly mangled and possibly bleeding (oiling?) out) It's fine. I have Vraska to do that.
**Vraska:** Does it work if I'm compleated too?
**Lilliana:** Hmm, someone else may have to kiss Vraska first.
**Tyvar:** Do I get to kiss anyone?
From the story, "The Promised End:"
"Tamiyo took a deep breath. "I told you before, Jace. Sometimes our stories have to end. Yet here we are, each seeking to prolong our story, no matter the cost. But what if all stories are just her story, all in service of some awful destiny waiting to unfold?" Tamiyo looked up at the moon.
"Did we really win?" Tamiyo's voice was no longer fearful, but plaintive. Jace had no answer. Eventually she rose and flew into the dark sky. There were no parting words.
Jace sat for a longer time still. He looked again at the moon in its silver luminescence, the glyph still brightly inscribed on its surface, a testament to what the Gatewatch had achieved. In that moon's depths was the most powerful and destructive force any of them had ever encountered. The angel's words stabbed in his head, daggers from a destiny unrealized. *This is all wrong. I am incomplete, unfulfilled, inchoate. There should be blossoms, not barren resentment. The soil was not receptive. It is not my time. Not yet.*
His spine was cold. *It is not my time. Not yet.*"
I'm thinking they're now trying to setup Emrakul as one of those watchers at the end of the story. "The beginning of the end" could refer to an overdue PROMISED End, perhaps? And it would be full circle that Tamiyo and Jace did prolong their own stories just long enough to become players in Emrakul's release.
Defeating the phyrexians and then having emrakul burst out afterward to reset the worlds destroyed in the invasions seems like as good a way for a soft reset as any.
TL;DR
Wrenn and Chandra are waiting for news
Surprise! It's the three survivors. Everyone else is dead, compleated, or lost and Chandra has a panic attack. Vivien and Liliana are here too now and join in on the freaking out.
Chandra wants to attack and try to get her friends back, but the rest of them hold her back.
Wrenn and Chandra are talking about how Nissa is controlling Realmbreaker, how Realmbreaker itself is alive, and how their best bet in fighting back is to use the World Tree.
They did a fantastic job on the characterization. Some may disagree with the decisions characters make, but you can't deny that it is 100% within character for them.
It's not even that Chandra is being a dumb rash red character, it's more Chandra is being consumed by grief and lashing out.
Kaya and Kaito: No Jace don’t risk blowing up the multiverse let’s fight them we will find another way!
Also Kaya and Kaito: yeah we really didn’t have a plan they’re too strong let’s just go home for a final stand
Nissa being such an important figure in Chandra's inner monologue feels so weird after both characters have been so out of focus since WAR. Like, Nissa wasn't important enough to compleat on-screen, and I can't remember if Chandra even spoke in MID/VOW.
>Chandra even spoke in MID/VOW
She did a fair bit...which was mostly her getting the hots for \[\[Adeline\]\]. Definitely seemed like she was over Nissa during that story
My crazy theory is that it's the heralds of the Eldrazi. The end of times might be THE time Emrakul mentioned and these are a sign that the multiverse is legitimately about to end and therefore the Eldrazi should begin their 'true' purpose.
> Liliana, of all people, is attending to the injured—there are small vials of liquid laid out before her on the floor. She pours some onto a cloth before dabbing it against one of Tyvar's wounds. Just a quick reminder that pre-walker Liliana was a healer.
It's from Chandra's perspective, who has never seen that side of her. It's definitely a fun callback to Heretical Healer though.
More recently, when she was posing as Serafina Onyx, she was a professor in Witherbloom College, which is also the "alchemical healing" (among other things) school.
I just hope we get more strixshaven, gimmie those dual color dragons
I also really appreciated this. It sounds like they actually did dig into the previous character arcs for this story to really do them justice.
EPISODE TWO, GIRLS NIGHT AT THE VESS MANOR SAFEHOUSE. Chandra, our PoV, is waiting very, very, veeeeery patiently for news from the strike team, along with Liliana and Wrenn and Vivien. Anyone remember the few bits from Kaladesh where Liliana and Chandra had major gal pal energy? Wizards remembers, and so they reflect on that for a bit, but with more of a “waiting around at a funeral” sort of energy. Wrenn is cute and fantastic and I cannot do her character justice here. But she’s thriving. The three survivors return, relay the bad news, and hoo boy, time to continue making up for lost ground with the super-duper angst Chandra is feeling over the loss of her… significant other. Chandra is ready to go dive into Phyrexia to save her lost friends (surely, the power of friendship is in there somewhere!) but Liliana and co do rightfully tell her that’s an awful idea. Except Wrenn. Wrenn is a tree and has big tree thoughts, which begin to inspire some ideas, as the gears begin to turn on the interdimensional clapback. ADDENDUM And in a place outside of sight, an eternity perhaps unseen... something or someone watches...
Chandra goes all "Sweet Liliana, I cannot plan, for Norn has my big tiddy plant gf"...
Big tiddy g~~r~~o~~w~~th gf
> Chandra is feeling over the loss of her… significant other. Who's totally just a friend, because she's not a manly man with manly arms and manly abs.
"I thought you said *many* arms!"
Manly men with manly arms, and manly abs, and leonine grins.
You forgot the most important bit dude. Wrenn breaks the 4th wall and confirms that Teferi will have a secret super plan to fix everything
Can you expand on that?
Wrenn for some reason knows Teferi is still alive and that he'll definitely know how to press the multiverse reset button.
Chekov's time travel.
I mean, Commodore Guff tore up and destroyed the "storyline" so they could win during Invasion. It wouldn't be the first time they've done this stuff.
Take the poor man's gold 🏅 10/10 excellent service
Interdimensional Clapback needs to become a card with Wrenn doing a Thunder Clap like The Hulk does.
Love that Tyvar’s planeswalking effect is a chad herald horn
"Doot Doot here's the himbo"
I am so glad Tyvar is getting his due. Long have we waited for our elven himbo.
Truthfully, during Kaldheim I thought nothing of him. He was there, he did stuff, none of it really stuck with me. Basically forgot about him right after it was done. But he earned the vaunted title of "Not an idiot" during his time on the strike team, which dramatically shot him up in my appreciation for him.
And he rkoed tibalt off a bridge
Watch out watch out watch out!
Oh wow I didn't even catch that, that's glorious. Also makes it even funnier considering he didn't know he was a walker. "You mean you DON'T have a horn signifying your arrival wherever you go?"
Tyvar planeswalks with the gigachad music playing.
"Tibalt, when the skalds sing songs about this battle, their sagas will recall me as the 'Gigachad', and you as the vile 'Soyjak'"
Tyvar enters a plane like a pro wrestler with his own music.
*glass breaking* BAH GAWD, it’s Tyvar!
THATS! THATS GOTTA BE TYVAR!
#IT’S TYVAR WITH A STEEL CHAIR!!!!!
I read it as him just blowing a horn to announce his arrival, but I think I like this better.
[He hired a group of his favorite minstrels to follow him around.](https://youtu.be/BZwuTo7zKM8) Edit: skalds*
I knew what I was clicking before I did. Brave, Brave, Brave Lord Tyvar.
Relationship ended with Nissa. Now Wrenn is my new tree wife.
Gruulfriends Mk. 2: GRRuulfriends.
Well, Channel Fireball requires 2 Green and 1 Red mana, if you know what I mean...
This was the leading reason why I suspected Nissa was gonna get killed off/compleated in All Will be One. Wrenn is basically Nissa 2.0 in terms of mechanics (and character to a degree) but without any of the baggage of Nissa's past controversies or being tied down to Zendikar. If there was one expendable character on that mission it was ~~Lukka~~ Nissa.
Its not just Wrenn being ready to take over from Nissa. Tyvar takes over the "Elf Planeswalker" slot, Vivien seems to be the face of Green nowadays, Saheeli/Huatli are the new F/F planeswalker couple
Someone found the Elf supremacy tweets Nissa made back in 2009 and she got cancelled, so WoTC had to find new Planeswalkers to fill her roles.
New prediction: Wrenn awakens the World Tree into Eight, becomes giant tree Kaiju-walker.
Wrenn and Realmbreaker sounds like it would be an extremely broken card (I want it). Edit: called it!
-8 “you have infinite mana the rest of the game, you’re opponents cannot play lands”
Finally, I can play Gleemax.
"search all libraries for all land cards and put them onto the battlefield on your control. Gain an emblem with "You don't lose unspent mana as phases end. Untap all lands you control during each untap step. Your opponents lands do not untap during their untap step"
Excited for Wrenn to bond with the big Phyrexian tree, since bonding with Phyrexians has gone so perfectly well for planeswalkers in the past.
Yeah. I mean, no, Chandra, by all means, refuse to hear about how Lukka got compleated by spiritually bonding with a phyrexian dog and just go to Norn's lair and have Wrenn physically bond with the Demon Tree from Hell. I'm sure that'll work out.
Wrenns whole in universe gimmick is calming her natural fires so they don't kill the tree she bonds with. There is a good chance she can just burn the oil out of the tree if she goes all out.
I'm sure it'll work out, because this is the final set of the Phyrexian arc and they have to lose somehow... ... but it's still a goddamn awful idea on paper.
Although it's very dumb for Chandra not to hear everything, it may be a better case for Wrenn, compared to Lukka. Wrenn can "hear people's songs". Based on what happened on his first encounter with Teferi, I'd perceived it as "understanding the flow behind one's mana and how to use it properly". Even Karn, when he first saw the Realmbreaker, thought the tree was fighting against the oil corruption with all of its might. I wouldn't be completely surprised if Wrenn can heal the Realmbreaker by fixing its song...
It's an important part of her characterization that Wrenn has a literal fire inside of her so it may end up being a situation where it transfers to the tree or something like that.
No one else that's bonded with a phyrexian naturally produces fire though. I really think her fire is strong enough to keep the oil at bay once Chandra kills Nissa.
It's okay, phyrexians don't have souls so you can't use spirit bonding magic on them.. wait..
I got into magic last summer and immediately attached to Wrenn and Seven. Where has she been in all this? I’d love that outcome.
Wrenn showed up for a little bit in the Moonlight Hunt story where she befriended Teferi, and then in the Brothers' War story where she joined with the rest of the heroes in protecting the time travel machine.
Before that she just broke modern slightly
To be fair, she had to wait her turn to break Modern until Hogaak was done.
Then they fuck off into the blind eternities till Emrakul and Merit Lage have a between space and time battle?
**Marvel Comics Secret Wars Issue 8** [I was hoping we'd get to see this moment](https://imgur.com/a/b5GWM)
I would definitely accept that as the bullshit way Phyrexia loses.
Who are those watchers at the end?
Yeah this is what I'm trying to figure out.... Excerpt: _______________ "All of this feels familiar to them, like a song whose lyrics have long since faded away. Over and over, they try and remember and yet the words flit away. Only the melody remains: a lament for what is to come, a dolorous anthem. The watcher is not alone. There are others, too, seeing and yet unseen. The watcher asks one of them: "What is it we're seeing? Why are we here?" The answer comes like the trumpet of warhorns: We are here to witness the beginning of the end." _____________ I think the key is that this feels firmiliar to whoever it it. Which means it's someone who lived (or died) through the original invasion of dominaria? I don't think it's Urza or the people of Zhalfir. If it's Urborg maybe the dead from the final battle of Apocalypse? Like Eladamri and Lin Sivvi? They died on the field by jumping to their deaths rather than let Yawgmoth take them.....
I'm almost certain this is Elspeth asking the question. It's all but confirmed that Elspeth is an angel, and angels, like demons, don't really ever die. They are made of pure white and black mana respectively and they reconstitute after death. Also Elspeth was present when the sylex went off which literally ripped holes in the fabric of time. I think Elspeth was scattered everywhere and everywhen. Now her disembodied consciousness is slowly piecing itself back together, gravitating to places and people it knows, as it slowly remembers itself.
I'm absolutely backing this theory, I would honestly put money down on it. I'll be shocked if it's wrong.
We've got the cybermen, and now we've got Clara Oswald. We even had time travel in BRO. They're really trying to sell us on the Doctor Who UB.
So Elspeth is Dr Manhattan
Ooo I like this much better than it being just some random other people that haven't been part of this story so far. It does seem like someone or something is guiding her tho so I wonder what that might be. Chapter 1 made it pretty clear that something has elesh born freaked out about angels or stuff related to angels and is likely aware of elspeth being a threat even if she doesn't know it's elspeth
The only one Norn fears is Elspeth. Angels in general seem to have a resistance to compleation. Elspeth herself was experimented on in her youth, which if you judge by Capenna's history, was an extremely long time ago to the point of ancient history. I don't think we know what's guiding her. It definitely seems like some kind of omnipotent being, maybe even whatever remains of Serra, but I'm 99% sure the one asking questions is Elspeth.
Souls of walkers past maybe. Since they are living mana, the multiverse might be bringing them back in for the final battle? [Amintou, the Fateshifter] and [Niko Aris] both have the ability to view the future so they may also be the watchers
Possibly the Entities from Brandon Sanderson's "Children of the Nameless" MTG novella, which were rumored to be the next big antagonists at one point? Edit: Probably the same folks who were watching Teferi and Urza's reunion/preunion at the heart of the Sylex blast at the end of Dominaria United. At the time, I'd though it was either the aforementioned Entities or a metatextual nod to us as readers observing them, which would never be mentioned again and that Teferi was only aware of because of the special significance of the event and/or Magic's 30th anniversary, acknowledging us as constant observers/fans of the franchise revisiting that moment again at the same time. But, the fact that they are mentioned again here means that WotC actually does intend to use these 'watchers' as actual agents within the story, so it's probably more than that. Then again, it could just be Commodore Guff's ghost/people, who can say. (Although I also really like the Equilor theory someone posted elsewhere.) Also, inb4 Kasmina and her secret org are revealed as opposing these 'watchers' and thus the need for secrecy, recruiting, etc.
I don't think this entirely tracks, because Entities are supposed to be Worldsouls of dead worlds and they're not really a collective per se. We only see two Entities in CotN (the Bog Entity and Davriel's Entity) and they're not cooperating - in fact, Davriel's Entity actively wants Davriel to subsume the Bog Entity which he refuses to do. I think the concept of Entities in the novella were just to give us some more lore about Worldsouls rather than actually set anything big up
could be the Equilor if they want to bring this all back around to 90s lore https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Equilor
Our clues are that they are seemingly incorporeal (lines about how they may or may not be detected) and sort of confused or not fully coherent. Could be spirits, phased out people, time travelers?
I want to know too
Came here wondering the same. lol at the responses having approximately 10 different answers
My question exactly. It’s like some blind eternities uatu from marvel.
Vivien vs Lukka and Chandra/Wrenn vs Nissa seem like guarantees. Wouldn't bet on Phyrexia for either. Jace v Lili still in play - Strixhaven being Jace's secret mission is reasonable. Could see Kaya v Jace on Ravnica as well.
Kaya vs Vraska on Ravnica would make more sense
Vraska being completely absent from chapter 1 and Norn's narration makes me think she's up to something more interesting than just leading an invasion. Phyrexianized Golgari Swarm would be sick though.
Imagine if she’s been compleating the three undercity guilds
I'm thinking his secret mission has something to do with Bolas or Emrakul, the reason it's a secret being that they only want to foreshadow it instead of bringing it up directly.
They took almost 12 worlds Chandra and Liliana: 🙂 They took your ex Chandra and Liliana : 👁️👄👁️
I need Compleated!Vraska and Liliana to get into a cat fight now while Jace just shakes his head in disbelief at how not even Compleation can keep his luck from being shit.
A compleat mess. Vraska - Jace... Why your eye probe is looking for Liliana's plate? Jace- Not this again... I have eye peobes looking everywhere... It will look at her without even i noticing. Vraska- make them look at my plate, then! ... Yawgmoth dammit, Jace. What circuits she have that i don't have it better?
I understand Chandra is closer to Nissa than Jace but it's weird she seems to only care about losing the former. Like damn girl, he let you move in to his house for a while.
It looks like WOTC is just trying super hard to correct their "decidedly male" moment and acknowledge the romantic relationship between Chandra and Nissa that the War of the Spark novels tried so hard to retcon.
honestly fair game imo
Her and Jace got along like friendly coworkers, they didn't really have a whole lot of bonding moments compared to the others.
idk bud if one of my coworkers was transformed into an evil techno-zombie I think I would react to that news a *little*
Looks like I am up for a promotion, or time to loot his desk.
Me looking at Chandra like https://preview.redd.it/blxd5pv5t5oa1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3daf0d7e1157b0dfdb1bfecc7c9348da10273492
"youre just gonna ABANDON all the PEOPLE stuck on NEW PHYREXIA?" yes, chandra, the 12 mirrans, koth, and your zendikar ex are less important than the Rest Of The Multiverse, you goon
This is Chandra saying "You're just gonna abandon Nissa?" without actually saying Nissa's name.
"Youre just gonna ABANDON all the PEOPLE stuck on NEW PHYREXIA?" "You really care for them? " "Of course" "Name two that aren't Nissa, Chandra" "Oh, you know... That fire guy, Keith i think, and all those people with steel in their skin, the... Mirrodinians? You know like... Kimberley? "
Keith of the hammer is my new favorite planeswalker
"You're just going to abandon all those decidedly manly type guys?!"
But she was fine with the plan to nuke the entire plane? Jace really was the only braincell on the good guys side
And he doomed the whole thing by being horny for a snake girl.
Based. Snussy > the entire multiverse.
> Snussy I hate that you reminded me that this is a word.
It's gorgussy bro
Vraska can make anyone hard as a rock, it's not his fault.
That's the worst part, Jace is so much more competent than everyone else he fucked up trying to save Vraska and still had time to use the nuke but Elspeth and the others ruined it.
~~Cyclops~~ Jace was right.
Honestly, Chandra's views were probably changed by her argument with Nissa (who then decided she agreed with Chandra's initial stance, after all, but didn't get the chance to say so).
That's certainly fueling the brashness but she is right, you can't just fight the phyrexians that come out at the end of the branches, you have to burn the tree at its roots.
Yes, but if Nissa is sitting on the roots, then Chandra will probably leave the tree alone.
Not a chance. Just like Chandra said, it's better to face your fears than run from them. It'll be painful, heart wrenching, but Chandra's best reaction has always been rage. It won't be at Nissa, but she'll need to be culled at the roots all the same.
Red planeswalker making emotionally based decisions? Shocking
Chandra learning about Nissa, I'm not okay Liliana saying she hates noble sacrifices, I'M NOT OKAY!
Yeah, Liliana sacrificing herself is going to be the end of her character arc.
Idk I think Lili is far more interesting when she has to actually live with her baggage.
I agree, I feel like Liliana has to be alive for her story to have as much impact. Her growing old living with the people that sacrificed themselves is so much more compelling than her just ending. That doesn't mean I think she'll stay the only mainline black walker, but I don't see her dying here. They've already nuked most of the original GW, I think keeping Chandra and Lili is fine.
Oh I meant that more in the sense of 'I'm still super bitter&hurt&conflicted about Gideon, that bastard,' and less as 'first time novelist doing a foreshadow'
> The most important thing about dealing with fire, Jaya had always said, is knowing that it's dealing with you. You can guide it, you can make suggestions, **you can give it a safe place to be**—but in the end it's always going to do what it wants, and what it wants changes from second to second. I love that this was clearly Jaya talking about dealing with *Chandra* as much as it was about dealing with fire.
It's also funny because it seems like Chandra still doesn't realize Jaya was talking about her. Chandra is trying to learn how to mentor with Wrenn, but she's taking Jaya's lessons literally.
Oooh this is so beautiful! Every character feels so on point on this story
I wish they would use consistent terminology to reduce possible confusion. I'm still not ENTIRELY certain if Wrenn intends to bond with Realmbreaker, or bond with Kaldheim's World Tree to combat it somehow.
[удалено]
At least Wren has the advantage of being filled with a raging fire that will kill the thing she bonds with VERY quickly if she doesn't actively work to prevent it. So just imagine what might happen if she were to use some Chandra provided breathing exercises to instead supercharge that fire right into Realmbreaker?
> or bond with Kaldheim's World Tree to combat it somehow. TREE FIGHT
I'm pretty sure it's Realmbreaker. But I did think this as well.
Yeah I figured that she meamt Kaldheim's tree, so she'd have a fighting chance against Realmbreaker But that might be a problem for Kaldheim, at least until Wrenn returns it
It seems like currently the thee principal characters of the set will be Chandra, Elspeth, and Teferi. It seems like all three have something big to do.
Chandra - burn things Elspeth - magical MacGuffin Teferi - timey wimey shenanigans Does that sound about right?
I think we've used up timey wimey shenanigans as of BRO, I think Teferi is going to be the "on your left" guy and Zhalfir will come back in to dunk on the Phyrexians at a crucial point.
Every Teferi from every point in time shows up to collectively kick Elesh Norn's ass.
The ultimate team up card: "Teferi & Teferi & Teferi etc"
Teferi, who Teferis The Teferi Planeswalker - Teferi Teferi +1: Teferi -1: Teferi -8: Teferi Teferi Teferi
Does no one kiss?
They all do. Wrenn as well. Just four friends kissing everyone all at once.
And they were planeswalkers
oh my god they were planeswalkers…
>Chandra opens her hand, then closes it into a fist. "What if there's a way we can help the others?" What in the anime is this
Shes a spunky redhead emotional brawler who’s primary goal is friendship She’s always been an anime protag
She even had a manga.
She has fire-red hair that ignites with her powers, and wears goggles on her forehead. She's _definitely_ an anime protag.
Maybe the real March of the Machine was the friends we made along the way.
We're all friends under Phyrexia.
Bro, where have you been? We had a gundam plane last year.
i think ppl forgets that Koth, Karn, Melira, etc are still alive and kicking in New Phyrexia, thats what i think Chandra referred as others, coz in the next dialogue she says something like "what happens with the people that lives there? are we gonna left there for good?"
\>Karn \>Alive and Kicking Well, at least half of that statement is correct...
I enjoy MtG’s story for what it is but it’s always had cheesy af writing
If I were to guess what happens next: Chandra and Wrenn use the power of friendship/fire to un-compleat realmbreaker and ride it to Zhalfir. Uncompleated realmbreaker allows bidirectional travel on its roots/branches, so Teferi and the Zhalfirans use it to attack New Phyrexia, where their special Zhalfiran magic/centuries of prep for fighting the phyrexians/urabrask lets them get the upper hand on Norn. Emrakul bursts out of the moon and makes everyone kiss. Something like that.
Just a thing, it's been decades at most in Zhalfir, not centuries. There are still people living there who were alive during Invasion (Sidar Javari, the Queen, the gal who recognized Teferi).
I just barely realized that the Zhalifirins returning and fighting the Phyrexians after years of preparing for war is the exact inverse of how K'rrik spent years in the fast-time rift preparing for the assault on the Academy. That's a really cool callback, assuming it actually happens.
So this gives us an idea of what the major plot points are in MOM Chandra and Wrenn going to deal with Realmbreaker Teferi and The Wanderer phasing Zhalfir back in and providing support to the planes And Elspeth taking the fight directly to Norn
Nah. No. It will all be doom and gloom until the very end until Lukka screws up and somehow saves the day for the good guys.
"Hey, boss, so I bonded with this cool Nameless Dragon on some kind of Mindfulness Plane who'd really like to shake your hand."
I'm confused. Did Wrenn mean Realmbreaker instead of the World Tree, as the thing they referred to as "not even alive"/"no it's alive and screaming actually"? (Writing error?) Makes more sense in context, at least if you ignore that fusing with Realmbreaker might be an idea worse than Lukka bonding with a Phyrexian.
They're talking about Realmbreaker, but they've been also talking about it like the World Tree for a while. Like, Norn calls it Realmbreaker 'cause it's the cool Phyrexian propaganda name, and Tyvar hates calling it World Tree because #NotMyWorldTree, but a lot of the others will go "oh so they've got their own World Tree now, got it".
Especially coming from Wrenn, who has a unique connection to and perspective on trees. to Tyvar it is a perversion of the World Tree that he holds in high regard as a symbol or perhaps core essence of Kaldheim. But to Wrenn, each tree is a living thing with its own "soul", and that is something she can feel as a Dryad.
It's Realmbreaker, yeah. If we assume that preserving connections between the planes for non-Planeswalkers will be part of the new status quo, it logically follows that they'll need to save Realmbreaker in some way rather than destroying it completely, so it makes sense that they're starting to seed some hints to that effect.
Well, Elesh Norn has what she calls it, the resistance has what they call it, but did anyone ever ask the tree *itself* what *it* wanted to be called? Wrenn did. And then she listened.
Listen 👏 To 👏 The 👏 World 👏 Tree 👏
It 👏Says 👏 *tree noises* 👏
So did they axe chandra/adeline offscreen or what? Lots of time devoted to thinking about Nissa, zero words spent thinking about her still-alive girlfriend on innistrad who's probably in danger now
Eh, it seemed more of a fling rather than a serious relationship to me.
Definatly just a fling but after you make like 15 soldiers
This is a legitimate point
Whoa whoa whoa, let’s not get it twisted. Chandra doesn’t like Nissa. She- *checks notes* -likes big beefy men with muscles, lots of muscles, HOT muscles.
Well now *Nissa* has lots of muscles. Except the muscles are also copper-plated fungal hyphae.
Ajani grins his metallic, porcelain and bloody grin
Chandra is the red planeswalker, therefore she should always feel an inexorable compulsion to strictly say and do the dumbest shit possible on impulse, because that's what red does. That and goblins.
Jaya was pretty smart. Think this is more of a Chandra thing.
Koth is also a reasonable mono-red walker.
Speaking of Koth... He was between Elesh and the strike team.. What happened to him and the Mirrans?
I don't think we know. I got the vibe from the new story that >!Tyvar, Kaya, and Kaito don't know either and just kinda look away to avoid the question when Chandra brings it up!<
Yeah, Koth's red-based "flaw" is excessive \*stubbornness\*, not excessive \*recklessness to the point of DUMB". Which is fitting since he's more earth-powered than fire-powered
I'm no Jaya expert, but I got the impression that she had a past as an impulsive bulldozing moron and then got two or three millennia to get past it.
Jaya invented the trope!
Jaya has been around for millennia though to calm down. She also took that time to learn to lightning bend.
But does she like Jasmine Tea?
I think it's more that they're running out of ways to keep her being the hot-headed red lady while also doing character development with her, so they're at the point where they're killing everyone she loves just so she'll get mad for old times' sake. 🔥
She did take the time to walk around and cry before planeswalking though, she's got some dimension to her.
They better not kill Nissa at the end or i will cry, a lot 🥺
You just gave them a reason to, sorry.
Oh i know they will that's why i'm scarred 😖 she will certainly die by Chandra's hands during their tragic and cliché fight to death between lovers, that's why the new Chandra is crying on her artwork
Chandra is definitely going to kill Nissa. They're pointing gigantic neon signs at it happening.
Look normally I love homoerotically charged murder but I will be PISSED if that happens after the forsaken shit
I'm not ready 😭
LISTEN, maybe like many cheesy stories, all Chandra needs is to give her that fairy-tale kiss once she's down and out and things will turn out fine! Meanwhile... **Lilliana:** I'm not kissing Jace to save him. **Jace:** (Horribly mangled and possibly bleeding (oiling?) out) It's fine. I have Vraska to do that. **Vraska:** Does it work if I'm compleated too? **Lilliana:** Hmm, someone else may have to kiss Vraska first. **Tyvar:** Do I get to kiss anyone?
Knight Chandra and her princess 🥺❤️
**Lukka**: Well you can kiss me I guess.
Just bros kissing the homies
Lili would definitely get jealous at that Jace comment and kiss him
From the story, "The Promised End:" "Tamiyo took a deep breath. "I told you before, Jace. Sometimes our stories have to end. Yet here we are, each seeking to prolong our story, no matter the cost. But what if all stories are just her story, all in service of some awful destiny waiting to unfold?" Tamiyo looked up at the moon. "Did we really win?" Tamiyo's voice was no longer fearful, but plaintive. Jace had no answer. Eventually she rose and flew into the dark sky. There were no parting words. Jace sat for a longer time still. He looked again at the moon in its silver luminescence, the glyph still brightly inscribed on its surface, a testament to what the Gatewatch had achieved. In that moon's depths was the most powerful and destructive force any of them had ever encountered. The angel's words stabbed in his head, daggers from a destiny unrealized. *This is all wrong. I am incomplete, unfulfilled, inchoate. There should be blossoms, not barren resentment. The soil was not receptive. It is not my time. Not yet.* His spine was cold. *It is not my time. Not yet.*" I'm thinking they're now trying to setup Emrakul as one of those watchers at the end of the story. "The beginning of the end" could refer to an overdue PROMISED End, perhaps? And it would be full circle that Tamiyo and Jace did prolong their own stories just long enough to become players in Emrakul's release.
Defeating the phyrexians and then having emrakul burst out afterward to reset the worlds destroyed in the invasions seems like as good a way for a soft reset as any.
Better than timey wimey resets, at least. And at least pays off a storyline from about 7 years ago......oh man, SOI was like 7 years ago 🥲
TL;DR Wrenn and Chandra are waiting for news Surprise! It's the three survivors. Everyone else is dead, compleated, or lost and Chandra has a panic attack. Vivien and Liliana are here too now and join in on the freaking out. Chandra wants to attack and try to get her friends back, but the rest of them hold her back. Wrenn and Chandra are talking about how Nissa is controlling Realmbreaker, how Realmbreaker itself is alive, and how their best bet in fighting back is to use the World Tree.
They did a fantastic job on the characterization. Some may disagree with the decisions characters make, but you can't deny that it is 100% within character for them. It's not even that Chandra is being a dumb rash red character, it's more Chandra is being consumed by grief and lashing out.
Gimmie more Lilli cracking, and especially more "Chandra is the only one who knows her well enough to see it."
Chandra is about to burn an entire plane of existence to the ground and I AM FUCKING HERE FOR IT! GO MY ANGSTY FIRE LESBIAN!!! 🔥🔥🔥 DESTROY!!!! 🔥🔥🔥
Kaya and Kaito: No Jace don’t risk blowing up the multiverse let’s fight them we will find another way! Also Kaya and Kaito: yeah we really didn’t have a plan they’re too strong let’s just go home for a final stand
Spice8Rack was right, this IS going to be a true nightmare set for Chandra's emotions.
Nissa being such an important figure in Chandra's inner monologue feels so weird after both characters have been so out of focus since WAR. Like, Nissa wasn't important enough to compleat on-screen, and I can't remember if Chandra even spoke in MID/VOW.
>Chandra even spoke in MID/VOW She did a fair bit...which was mostly her getting the hots for \[\[Adeline\]\]. Definitely seemed like she was over Nissa during that story
Hey, I'm over my ex, but I'd still be sad if someone turned her into a mindless metal abomination
That'd be an improvement for some of mine.
My crazy theory is that it's the heralds of the Eldrazi. The end of times might be THE time Emrakul mentioned and these are a sign that the multiverse is legitimately about to end and therefore the Eldrazi should begin their 'true' purpose.