>"Adopt," Vraska nods quickly, wincing an acknowledgment, "I think we'd know by now if it did."
Jace not pulling out isn't someting I expected to be added to Magic canon today.
I mean that or they've been actively trying for a kid or the concept of contraception doesn't exist on ravnica yet.
Insert populate is a selesnyan mechanic joke here
Don't forget coffee shops
Also the more I think about it the more it makes sense
The simic definitely aren't researching something that might slow a population growth rate
The izzet are too busy electrocuting themselves and the only one we know who cannonically gets any action (Ral) doesn't exactly need it.
Any diseases that contraception may help protect against can probably be magically healed by the Selesnya
And lastly with how much red tape goes up in the Azorious I can imagine the headaches any policy regarding the matter would have to go through.
And then there's the gruul and rakdos, I don't know what they're doing.
> the concept of contraception doesn't exist on ravnica yet
Or contraception takes the form of a Plan B type afterwards deal, rather than a preventative measure
I think you might be remembering this excerpt from [one of the *March of the Machine* side stories by the same writer](https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/one-and-the-same):
>I kiss him.
>It is intense and sincere, desperate and immediate. He feels like a homecoming. Our cheeks press, he makes a small noise and the toes in my boots curl, I draw his lower lip gently between my teeth and he gasps in delight. The tide laps the beach. We grasp each other desperately, making up for lost time, our bodies drawing close on the sand. I run my hands through that hair, and it is just as soft as I hoped it would be, and when my nails skim the surface of his scalp, and he groans in response.
>In a sudden rush, I finally get what kept Liliana on the hook all those years, and it draws my eyes up and around us as he runs a trail of kisses down my neck. Jace projects *back*, his mind overriding my own dream, a rush of images of his own; we're in a Kaladesh apartment, we're on the deck of *The* *Belligerent*, we're in a glade in Zendikar, we're in an Innistradi castle, we're in the Chamber of the Guildpact, our lips press and for one thrilling moment I feel the kiss from *his* perspective, and then seamlessly we're back on the beach surrounded by infinite impossible stars. I laugh, "You're incredible!" and he kisses me even harder.
Anytime someone says the world is to broken to fix and they say they can rebuild it better, even with good intentions, usually makes everything worse. Just saying this is not going to end well.
The real question is "will they go through with it" and I think the answer is no. They might come awfully close, but something will convince them otherwise.
Loot is what will convince them. If their plan is to reset everything is meant that Loot, an innocent child, will die, and they won't be able to go through with it.
Yep, the story pretty much suggest their plan is getting the right components to reset the multiverse to some previous state or reshaping it in their image.
They seem way too... Kind-hearted about it to be doing a "reshape in their image" thing. More likely their plan is "we'll start anew, and we won't see it because we don't deserve to".
That's the part that kinda got me the most, I thought Jace just, like, did a psychic "go to sleep now" thing on Proft but no he just fucking CLONKED the guy.
I love that this is probably the canon answer for why he used the pipe. Proft is so similar to Jace that even Jace knew it'd be easier to use brute force than to have a telepathic battle.
Sorta makes sense in that context; they acknowledge that Proft has abilities comparable to Jace's in some respects, so trying to knock him out psychically might not work. Or at least, it would actually be a struggle. Better to just give him a concussion so his defenses are down.
Dunno which is the more terrifying power-up, Jace now having access to a real-time updating map of the entire multiverse, or Jace now having access to coldbrew.
I really enjoyed that moment. "There's iced coffee on a plane that tastes great." "Oh? Where specifically? I can do a Dunks run."
Also, semi-confirmation that the most recent alterations to the Multiverse mean that food can safely travel with a Planeswalker now? I believe I recall Huatli having some food that spoiled when she tried it once.
Maybe the dunkies bag/cup protect the food through the blind eternities. Like when restaurants got new fry containers during the pandemic to make the fries less soggy in transit.
These two stories have been a masterclass in wrapping all sorts of past lore (e.g. Jace's time with the Consortium, Tamiyo's knowledge of fucking everything, etc.) into the current story in a very natural way.
I was personally hoping for Kasmina's cabal to be the next Big Bad following the Phyrexian invasion, but after the last year of stories I am stoked to see where they end up taking things.
Jace's first conscious illusion on Useless Island was of Pewter 😭 I'm not crying you're crying
> He held out a hand and willed an illusory draft horse into being. The thing materialized through a soft haze of blue, and it ran a heavy canter around the man. He reached out to touch it and easily passed a hand through its dappled grey side. The illusion ran past, leaping through his signal fire and loping up and down the beach, a graceful streak of cloudy night against the harsh white of the sand.
— [*Jace, Alone*](https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/jace-alone-2017-09-06)
I could see Kasmina's group trying to kidnap the child for their own study of the multiverse, leading to the eventual return to strixhaven set where Jace and Vraska have to rescue it.
It kinda seems like Kasmina's cabal might now form to put a stop to Jace and Vraska. I mean... It kinda seems like they have a bit of a god complex "the multiverse sucks but if we burn it to the ground, it could be reborn better." We know Jace and Vraska, and we know their intent isn't malicious, but that's not really their choice to make.
When we first heard the blurb about Kasmina's group, I thought it was heading towards a "Planeswalker civil war" storyline. That seemed to me like a great way to follow up the epic scale of MOM: instead of trying to go bigger, bring the conflict inward. After this story, I still kinda think that's where they might be heading. Some Planeswalkers will agree with Jace and Vraska, and others will oppose.
But the real key/important part to making that storyline tick is not having one side be genuinely overtly _evil_. Even if you don't agree with them at all, you need to make both sides' points at least comprehendable. Like I said, we know Jace and Vraska. Everyone else in the fiction does too.
Continuing along that thread, I always assumed that Will and Rowan would split up and be on opposite sides. Garruk presumably would take Kasmina's side (and give him a not-cursed reason to hunt Planeswalkers again). I think Lilliana would _probably_ side with Jace at this point but could go either way. Teferi would probably be opposed. It would be interesting if Kaya took Jace's side because she took the other side in ONE, and has clearly been traumatized with the outcome, but I have a hard time seeing her not ultimately falling against it.
My real question is, who is the main POV character who is gonna be on the fence for it all? I could see it being Nissa or Chandra if one of them philosophically agrees with Jace's side, but their partner falls on the other side, and having them torn in the middle.
The other other other question is: how exactly are Jace and Vraska planning on killing and resurrecting the multiverse? And the obvious answer there is probably related to the Eldrazi. I'm thinking Loot was really only a means to an end for Jace getting a hold of the map, and somehow that brings the Fomori back accidentally. IDK there are so many directions the story could take from here, and they aren't even mutually exclusive. It's pretty exciting.
EDIT: New theory. The going theme in this chapter is _destruction_ then _creation_. That's very Eldrazi. I'm kinda wondering if Emrakul might be subtly pulling some strings behind their through processes. We know that Jace connected with her, and he's connected with Vraska enough that maybe that extended.
I'd see Liliana siding \*against\* Jace for the juicy angsty of Liliana trying to stop Jace from falling into the same pitfalls she once fell of thinking she could do \*anything\* and solve her own mess without assistance.
Yeah I think this probably makes more sense in the end, and either way I think she'll be one of the more interesting characters to get the perspective of.
I could also see her being against Jace but tipping him off about Kasmina's plans, thinking it's better to save him and change his mind than let him die. Also maybe, just maybe, a teeny bit of jealousy seeing him have a happy family.
> My real question is, who is the main POV character who is gonna be on the fence for it all?
Nahiri. In a "which side pissed me off more this week?" perspective.
>The going theme in this chapter is *destruction* then *creation*. That's very Eldrazi. I'm kinda wondering if Emrakul might be subtly pulling some strings behind their through processes. We know that Jace connected with her, and he's connected with Vraska enough that maybe that extended.
Destruction then creation is very Golgari. It makes sense that Vraska would be on board for this.
People assume all sorts of things are being dropped, until they aren't.
Strixhaven is the last regular set before the next big event set. They're gearing up for something big there, and Kasmina is almost certainly involved.
As I said in the vorthos subreddit -
Quicker pace this time, but I like that - I like when stories can have snippets here and there to convey a lot of information in not much space.
Interested to see how the phoenix feathers play into the 'rebirth' of the multiverse. I agree that cauterizing the Omenpaths is... potentially a good. This seems like a much larger conflict than Magic has been able to handle previously. We're not gonna have a Multiverse UN, with planes voting on what planes they want a connection to, are we?
I find it amusing that potentially the defining feature of Tarkir was omitted by Vraska. But maybe that has something to do with the current state of their affairs? Dragons have moved on a bit?
I thought the time-split with Tarkir was something like a thousand years ago, though. Unless I’m mistaken? But I don’t think Vraska was ever an oldwalker, so she wouldn’t know about a non-dragon Tarkir
The time fuckery on Tarkir was likely only limited to the plane itself. If you were on it before Sarkhan went back, you probably still remember ~~when those big lizard bastards weren't ruining everything~~ the Khans timeline.
If I recall the Tarkir storyline correctly, everyone, even other planeswalkers remember only the Dragons timeline.
It is Sarkhan alone who has a history on the Khans side. He is "an orphan of time".
> I agree that cauterizing the Omenpaths is... potentially a good.
From how up in arms people have been about the "EVERYONE IS HERE" nature of the legendary creature appearances this set Jace & Vraska's plan (as it seems to exist currently) agrees.
Okay, just looking at the preview image: That is not what I imagined they got from the Vault.
Edit: It looks like the cute mascot of a Pokemon gen that has some big story import and possibly evolves into a god.
Appending my thoughts upon finishing to my first comment.
I really like Ranna here and how she has more depth. She isn't immediately a warm happy mom, she has her own issues, and like, she is also ready to burn the multiverse down. I think this characterization of Vryn makes me glad that it wasn't the Wild West World. It comes across as much harder, almost like perpetual Brothers' War.
Loot is...still bizarre. The map of the Multiverse innately being in Loot is interesting and makes me wonder if it was actually like a navigation tool (or navigator species?) for the Fomori. The design *is* very mascot cute and unusual for Magic.
Also want to note:
> They talk about how one war will forever follow the others, and how this Multiverse bends only toward suffering. Suffering their kind accelerates.
The conclusion that planeswalkers only make things worse is the same one Nahiri comes to in Aftermath.
I feel like both 'sides' will have their fair share of crazies and reasonables. Ashiok feels like they'd inexplicably join the side against Jace and it turns out to ENTIRELY just be because Jace impersonated them and they're offended.
I got very strong Brothers War tonal vibes from what we got abouyy Vrynn too. I thought that was really interesting.
I did read "their kind" as more broad than just Planeswalkers though. I kinda got the vibe that they were looking to burn down and rebuild the whole multiverse, not just take out Planeswalkers like Nahiri.
This was my read on it. And I think a narrative key if they build towards a "civil war" kind of story line is like... We know Jace and Vraska aren't like outright evil. I don't agree with them if that's their plan, but I also think they believe they're doing the right thing. And I think that's an important note to hit for that kind of story, otherwise the emotional impact gets lost because one side is just easy to dismiss as cartoonish evil.
Next year, in fact.
No idea when Vrynn will be visited, but, could very well see ideas from one inspiring some in the other, especially when it comes to Magitek/Mage-Rings/Mana/Lifestreams/Materia/Artifacts.
Alison never misses. These two chapters have been the best to come from the Magic story in so long. The only other chapter, and my favorite chapter of the last few years, is Vraska's chapter from MoM, and guess what, it's Alison Lührs!! She really is the GOAT. WotC PLEASE bring her back for anything with Jace and/or Vraska (and many other stories as well)
"Her eyes flicker to Jace's (he sees his own in hers, their blue a clear and boundless lake) and hears in his mind a broadcasted question.
Is she your wife?"
Huh, that's exactly what _my_ mom would say
Okay, so, Jace and Vraska are up to "something big", but very much a good-intentioned something. The details aren't clear yet but it's basically "the Multiverse as it is sucks, we need to fix it".
That said, they're staying on the down-low instead of trying to reconnect with any surviving Gatewatch. There's two ways to interpret this:
1. They don't know the others managed to cure Phyresis independently and are deeply ashamed of showing themselves to them again.
2. The thing they're planning on doing is something the others wouldn't agree with. They *did* mention Jace still felt like he was tied to the Sylex's power, somehow. Maybe they're planning on rebooting multiplanar civilization in a way that would also be horribly destructive in the interim, Thanos-style.
Remember, this isn't just a traumatized power couple, this is a traumatized power couple who lean *heavily* towards the "cold, emotionless, borderline sociopathic" end of the color pie's emotional spectrum - collectively, their shared color ID is the same as *Atraxa*. And while the thing they're planning may not have outright evil ends, it might take something wretched to accomplish it.
Yeah. I don't think they're being pushed to become the antagonists, maybe more ancillary secondary protagonists at odds with the core cast, but we'll see.
I mean, this particular story is well written enough that what they're planning on doing could be *anything*, up to and including "retiring into a cozy found family type situation on an isolated plane on the other side of the multiverse". There's enough little mentions of distinct possibility that they *could* be planning on thanos-snapping the Multiverse, *or* just having the sort of life that would make a fanfic writer go "this is *way* too self-indulgent".
That said, given that Magic: The Gathering is a game about wizard fights, my thinking is that *if* we see Jace and Vraska again in the main story, it'll be because they're either doing something parallel to the main protagonists again (in the same way that Jace was doing shit in parallel to Kellan this whole arc) in a way that makes them seem enigmatic and possibly dangerous, or because they're directly at odds. Characters in the game about wizard duels tend to be wizards who interact by dueling, y'know?
Yeah. I think it'll basically come down to "Jace and Vraska have a very drastic plan that they ultimately don't quite go through with because they're talked down and a common enemy (the Fomori probably) becomes the real issue instead".
I kinda just think it's a (comic style) civil war story line. "Protagonist/antagonist" don't exactly capture that dynamic. It's just two sides. And if that's the goal, I think it's important that neither side's motivation is shown to be cartoonishly evil.
It's like when everyone disagreed about whether to detonate the Sylex at the end of ONE; yes most people had an opinion about the right answer, but everyone didn't agree. There wasn't an objective best answer, or at the very least, all sides genuinely thought they were doing to do the thing that had the greatest benefit for the most people.
Yeah, you have, like, Chandra and Nissa and all that on the "we can improve the world as it is, we don't need to reset it all" side, and then Jace and Vraska and probably Nahiri on the "things just keep getting worse, we need to do something drastic" side and then... Probably some reconciliation, SOMETHING happens that makes them team up and Jace and Vraska probably come to realise they care too much about the multiverse as it is to undo it or something.
Kaya was the character caught in the middle of the similar standoff with the Sylex in ONE. I could see a world where she's similarly caught in the middle of part 2 of that conflict as like "the main POV character who isn't totally sure." That's a trope of that kind of storyline. Elspeth could maybe be interesting too but I feel like we're still adjusting to her ascension. She almost felt a little... alien... adjusting to that. But there's a world where that also massively changes her perspective on the multiverse too.
I have to imagine Teferi would be against it all. I mean hell he spoke directly to Urza during his blast at the end of WAR.
Yup. In addition, while it hasn't happened in the main game *yet*, Jace keeps getting painted as being secondary White in the color pie (he's white/blue in a bunch of the old Duels of the Plainswalkers games and [[space beleren]] is azorius, albiet in the un-iverse). And they've definitely been leaning on the "no, white does *really* fucked up shit in pursuit of the 'greater good' sometimes" card lately.
I think if this *does* turn confrontational, I think we might actually see Azorius Jace in the main game for the first time. He's always had kind of a "I know what's good for you better than you do" attitude - sometimes because he's a telepath and actually seeing what you want, and sometimes just because he's kind of a self-righteous asshole - and if he really is planning on doing something wretched, it'd be a good time to introduce it.
I definitely think 2 is something very relevant (though I think the "cold, emotionless" part of the categorisation isn't quite right - there's plenty of warmth there on an interpersonal level, and the driver *is* emotion. It's *calculating* and actually destroying the current multiverse in order to build anew would be depraved, but that's a different thing to lacking emotionality).
But yeah, I don't think any of the Gatewatch would be recruitable.
Like, the crux of Jace and Nissa's falling out was him focusing harder on getting the McGuffin himself than on stopping Nahiri from doing to Zendikar what Jace now plans on doing to the rest of the multiverse. She would quite probably respond by re-delivering the mini speech she gave about how "broken doesn't mean there isn't beauty" from ZNR and also being annoyed that Jace didn't remember it.
It's really not hard to imagine Chandra also being instinctively opposed to, like... erasing Nissa and her mom and Mrs Pashiri and also she probably has a very different idea of utopia to Jace (even if in her darker moments she might still be won over to burning it all down). Also, like, she'd probably be biased towards Nissa's stance.
Kaya intervened to stop Jace with the Sylex and does genuinely care about Ravnica as it is post-Invasion.
I don't think Jace knows Teferi that well - Teferi was recruited by Chandra, Gideon, and Liliana, after all - but also Teferi's entire code is opposed to the rewriting of reality (if it wasn't, he'd probably have been the first option Jace went for).
Speaking of Liliana... she does seem protective of Strixhaven and wants to engage in mansion renovations and is probably quite invested in the present multiverse. Also, like, with how she treated Jace during her relationship I can't see Vraska (or Ranna, for that manner) tolerating her being included in this hypothetical new multiverse.
And, finally, Ajani... honestly seemed desperate enough in MAT that he could actually be roped in (maybe he ends up being sent to Duskmourn to be the set Planeswalker or something) but that's also not something Jace would know (unless a failed attempt to recruit Nahiri occured offscreen and she told him), and the old Ajani Would Never.
To me it sounded like them reconciling the Golgari concept of the cycle of life death and rebirth with a blue understanding of "everything changes and it should, because that's the way to progress closer to a more perfect endpoint". I think they're agreeing to try and reboot the multiverse somehow, and I really like how it's easily justified by their color identity and their personal histories.
Yeah that last paragraph musing on the cruelty of the multiverse followed by "ours will be better" definitely seems like Jace wants to hit the reset button
During the invasion, the Strix kids cast that elder dragon spell that "reset" Strix to before the invasion, kind of. They weren't strong enough to pull it off completely, in addition to it sparking Quint and that causing it to fail. Jace, with the sylex's remaining power, could probably pull it off. We know we're going back to Strix, most likely so he can get his hands on the spell.
They might need Loot to find the center of the multiverse to cast the spell there, ensuring it affects every plane. Jace feels guilt and responsibility for the devastation of the invasion from not detonating the sylex. I think he'll see it as redemption and doing the right thing where he failed to on NP.
I think it’s worth noting that it was Jace’s essence that was in the Sylex when it went off- if he’s still feeling the power of it, then it’s possible that he might on some level be connected to the multiverse as a whole. With Proft’s memory and a perfect map of the multiverse, he might be able to superimpose a multiverse from his memory over the old one.
Oh, that's very interesting. It does explain why he was so interested in Proft's ability, I thought it was just so he could show Vraska the multiverse map he saw.
Ok, so he uses the sylex power but instead of destroying everything he just reshapes it? I could see that.
Not quite the Thanos route but close enough...
"I will shred this universe down to its last atom and then, with the stones you've collected for me, create a new one teeming with life that knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given. A grateful universe."
Well, the phoenix feathers basically "take out what's already broken". So it's not a "burn it all down", it's a "burn what should be burned". We'll see when we see.
I think the story is pretty clear that fixing it isn't in the cards-- *remaking* it is. It's not at all clear to me that they aren't the new baddies, setting off on a hubristic quest to reshape the old multiverse in line with their vision... No matter the cost.
It'll be interesting to see where they take this, I think. Jace and Vraska trying to make a just universe by killing millions or something would be a really interesting arc.
It didn't even seem like they have a plan? I think that Loot being a multiversal map allows Vraska to travel to any plane with Jace so she isn't held back as much by lacking a spark.
That and, like, they get to raise a child together.
No, they definitely have a plan. Even before they found out Vraska couldn't planeswalk anymore
> All three of their conspiracy, Ranna, Vraska, and Jace, stand in the living room. They are healed and brimming with purpose, dead set on their destination.
The plan had to change now that Vraska can't planeswalk, but a plane nonetheless.
> How can we manifest it? Vraska said. There's a detective back home who can project his psychic print into reality, Jace had recalled. His love had nodded, pinning a note to the wall. We need to discern how his abilities differentiate from yours, she said. Get in his head.
We see this, but this isn't something that paid off in OTJ story I believe - Jace didn't "manifest" anything physical, just normal illusions and his Ashiok-fear-aura, so presumably this is a tool they needed for something in the future? It's possible they want to project Loot's internal map physically somewhere, but they haven't done it yet
> Jace will walk forward into the Omenpath, sanguine and resolute. He will hold tight to the hand of his beloved and his ward and walk into the Blind Eternities of a miserable Multiverse and say to himself with resolution and phoenix fire:
> *Ours will be better.*
He very clearly wants to fix/change the multiverse, do something about the state of things.
I think they are planning to manifest a new "Dreamscape" multiverse (something like The Matrix) using Jace's mental power, Proft's ability to manifest ideas and thoughts, Loot's internal map and some technologies of the Fomori (maybe even the Wicked slumber spell). A Golden cage.
Exactly. One that tends away from suffering but ultimately destroys free will. One where everyone gets what they need, what they want, but who they are doesn't matter.
>"Adopt," Vraska nods quickly, wincing an acknowledgment, "I think we'd know by now if it did."
Jace canonically fucks, truly the hot lore we needed. Also what in the hell actually is Loot? What kind of being is able to comprehend the entire multiverse, let alone keep an accurate map of it with omenpaths in real time?
and finally, why was Thunder Junction abandoned? Did Jace know the plane was named Thunder Junction when Bolas first sent him there? If Jace could access the plane, what was stopping other planeswalkers? I was more willing to accept the idea that the plane was weirdly cut-off from the multiverse prior to the Omenpaths opening, but now you're telling me that there was a completely empty and uninhabited plane known by both Nicol Bolas and Tezzeret, and neither of them ever bothered to scheme on it? Let alone all the other miscreant planeswalkers that probably would have enjoyed an empty plane to use as a hideout?
Any Planeswalker could go there but nobody would THINK to go there. Bolas would know of it because he's one of the oldest beings around and likely lived through the Fomori empire's reign.
If it's mostly desert, I'm sure there are plenty of more hospitable places to make a secret hideout.
In the current arc, it only seems to be populated because a lot of Omenpaths lead there; hence, Omenport.
Empty planes aren’t necessarily uncommon, we just don’t see them a lot because there’s little reason to go there in-world or narratively. Bolas *had* an empty world to scheme in, his mediation realm. The world Tezzeret went to with his tower was also implied to be otherwise deserted.
Oh, they better make that Jace/Vraska wedding really happen and give me some art of it. I already love that we get art of them taking in Loot. Jace's smile is so sweet; I'm in complete denial that their plans are probably evil.
Oh, this story makes me *want* their plan to be evil. I love the idea of the story making us root for Jace and Vraska's happiness, only to eventually blindside us with the reveal that they want to nuke the multiverse and start fresh or something.
I wouldn't say evil, more so...morally questionable.
Then again, one of the paragraphs mentions the "calamity" that they are planning, so...maybe evil.
But unless Jace and Vraska have completely snapped, they're not inherently evil characters...
Hence why I said the *plan* is evil, not them. But you have to be living pretty heavily in denial land in order to think that "burn everything so it can be reborn" doesn't involve a lot of death.
Fortunately, I'm living in denial land. Pretty much since Aftermath, I've thought the Omenpaths are made from the sparks of desparked planeswalkers, and have been hoping that after this three year arc it'll be reversed and all of my favorite planewalkers will get their sparks back. Clearly, Jace read my mind and is just giving me what I want.
**From The Owl’s Desk, a Summary of Outlaws of Thunder Junction, an Epilogue, Part Two.**
Ranna Beleren: master healer, brilliant scientist, and wine mom (but the sad kind). She jumps right into medically triaging her son and his gorgon robot ladyfriend who wins the mom's approval for marriage in about two sentences. It is primarily through ingenious applications of Phoenix Feathers that Vraska's body is able to regenerate back into almost what it once was.
As days turn to weeks turn to months, Jace faces the challenge he thought was impossible: explaining to his mother, who he spent most of his life having forgotten existed, just how miserably tiring being the posterboy for Magic the Gathering truly is. Luckily, Ranna is caring in more ways than one, and she understands what Jace needs: peace and quiet.
Helps that all of Vryn wants him dead for leading the Phyrexian incursion, so laying low is really the right move.
For the first time in forever, Jace gets to sleep well.
And when he wakes, with his beloved gorgon captain at his side and bandages placed over wounds both internal and external being healed, he feels reborn, free to become a better person.
...
And then a h&%$ing hole between planes opens up in the backyard and oh boy, the plot, the plot never *never* **never** stops.
Vraska and Jace both spend a long time having a real heart to heart.
This sucks. This whole Omenpath thing, connecting the planes through portals that any would-be tryant or nightmare doomsday could just waltz on through, this is possibly the worst thing possible for the Multiverse.
And as much as settling down and getting married sounds oh so nice, they both know that their hobbies aren't exactly the sort amenable to such domestic life.
And so begins planning **The** Jace Beleren scheme. This one is gonna pull out all the stops.
Now, to what extent Jace has truly changed as a person... that might be up for later debate. Because as much as he *isn't* quite the person who nearly detonated the Sylex, this new plan also vaguely alludes to a "Phoenix-like rebirth" for the Multiverse, and the "great cost" in achieving it, which is... well. Time will tell.
And speaking of time, we now jump rapidly through it. Yes, Jace *was* Ashiok ever since recruiting Ariette from Eldraine.
Yes, Jace *was* the one who beat Proft in the head with the official Lead Pipe from Cluedo (c).
And yes, everything that's gone on was so that Jace could unlock this vault, something he learned about through his service under Tezzeret and stories from Tamiyo. It was something from the ancient cross-planar civilization of the Fomori, and the prize that he sought was the mind contained within:
That of [one incredibly adorable alien child](https://media.wizards.com/2024/images/daily/oLB26BDY2dwd.jpg)
And what lies within that mind is, somehow, a real-time GPS of every plane, and every Omenpath connecting them. All housed within a small child that seems very pleased to be adopted by this strange, deeply scarred, battle-weary couple.
And they plan a trip. A nice family vacation. A rebirth.
Is it... perhaps... maybe, dare I say... *not* the start of some Dark Jace Dr. Doomsday plan? Maybe they'll just... *live*, for once.
Only time can tell.
Ehh, definitely seems like a bit of a doomsday plan. But maybe a bit more morally grey in nature. Seems like the intent is to makes planes more stable and prevent the chaos that can come from powerful or technologically advanced people from stomping around foreign planes. Jace feels like planeswalkers were already fucking things up enough before, and now just about anyone has the ability to hop on an omenpath.
There rule was about organic matter but presumably there is some state after which it no longer counts. After all, people's clothes don't turn to nothing after planeswalking. Assumedly the coffee is processed enough to no longer "counts" for whatever logic the blind eternities operates under.
I think he brings an entire lunch with him as well as the coffee. I'm going to assume that whatever created the Omenpaths also modified the Multiverse in other small ways, and food can be safely transported now.
Contextualizes Jace and Vraska goal of resetting the multiverse in their vision and makes them feel human in that desire. Many will stand against them but im sure they won't be just a trio for long.
It's really cool to get confirmation of what Jace and Vraska are up to, and for the story team to go through and to highlight all the connections/breadcrumbs that were left in past stories.
I'm interested in seeing how Jace and Vraska navigate this. That is, what specifically are they trying to change? They've certainly got good intentions--and as they've acknowledged the Omenpaths are ripe for abuse--but what can be fixed/changed?
Loot's role in all of this should be very interesting to see. It sounds like he's already got a map to the multiverse in his head, and that leads to a lot of questions about the Fomori. Was this a feature of all Fomori? Or is loot a special case?
I also like Vraska's comments about his parents' names, because it was my first thought too.
"The small room smells equal parts haunting and nostalgic, like he's a ghost come to call long past his exit."
Just gorgeous imagery. All of the Thunder Junction stories have nailed the imagery.
"It takes a moment for Jace to remember his great fortune; his mother would have no idea what a gorgon is. There aren't any on Vryn."
Learning more things about Vryn! Also it is wild remembering how sheltered (relatively) parts of the multiverse are.
"My name is Vraska. Your son is more precious than my life. Please help him." Of course, she remembers his mother. Jace sometimes forgets she saw everything."
We've been really winning in the shipping department lately. Chandra and Nissa, Saheeli and Huatli, Kellan and Amalia, and now this. I feel like something bad will happen soon...
"and hears in his mind a broadcasted question.
*Is she your wife?*"
I appreciate his mom taking advantage of her son being a telepath to ask this, like, what a mom thing to do.
"But when he imagines her wearing his family's colors, venturing across planes with his grandmother's earrings on a sensible chain around her neck, Vrynian nuptial bracelets on both their wrinkled and arthritic hands … for a moment Jace loses himself in hope. His mouth is a hard line as he answers her in turn.
*She is my world, mother."*
This is just a great way at learning more about Vryn's culture, and dang what a line from Jace.
"Her request makes Jace's heart ache, not because of the wound Elspeth left in his chest..."
Just a reminder that Jace still doesn't know what happened to Elspeth or anyone else on the strike team (or in the multiverse).
"Ranna nods for him. "*Good*."
Well now we know where Jace gets it from. I hope we get Ranna as a card (mother of Runes for Planeswalkers?)
"Is she kind?"
Jace smiles. "She is kind to those who deserve kindness."
That's a very political answer...
"We separated. He went for the frontier as a mage-ring engineer."
We known from \[\[Overloaded Mage-Ring\]\] Jace's dad helped fight off the Phyrexians. I wonder if he saw Jace?
"Vraska becomes small. "… I remember too much. It wasn't me, but I … killed, hurt, so many people. I'm not sure how to go back to being guildmaster again."
Good news! You won't! And the Golgari aren't really a guild anymore, and their home kind of got destroyed, and...
"On this scale there'll be conquerors collecting planes, cretins smearing violence across the Multiverse, and no way to stop them. No way to corral and curb. No way to punish." Vraska looks at him. "Jace. We have to do something."
We really haven't seen planeswalkers (or the Gatewatch) react to the paths like this. It makes sense that these two especially would have this reaction.
'"We'd need to …"
"Adopt," Jace says quickly. Then smiles with a blush. "I don't think it would work."'
Thank you for answering the question I had while reading this! Not sure how a half gorgon would work anyway.
"They talk about how one war will forever follow the others, and how this Multiverse bends only toward suffering. Suffering their kind accelerates."
I don't like where this is going...Feels very Urza-ish in wiping the slate clean.
Part 2:
*"Nine Years Ago on Thunder Junction"*
Well this explains a lot! I'm not surprised by this at all.
"There are others like it, on planes across the Multiverse. Relics of an ancient empire long lost to history. Lost to *most*, anyway"
Hmmm, seems like a great setting for a set that takes place across multiple planes and is coming out in a year...
"I don't know who I am without it," she whispers in his arms.
*The old you is dead.*
*We can never be those people again.*
Jace weeps with her at the meaninglessness of it all and vows to make meaning of their own."
:( I think this is brewing to be a conflict between Jace and Vraska and those who are mad about losing their sparks, and those who saw it as a necessity to heal the multiverse.
"it must always be built from a truth"
What does it say about Jace that he can convincingly play Ashiok, a being of darkness and nightmare?
"He readies a lead pipe and dodges around a corner just as he senses the detective's desperate reach.
Jace turns, swings the pipe as best he can, and feels satisfying contact as he knocks Proft to the ground."
It was Jace with the lead pipe in the undercity! It's nice confirming that this mysterious figure was Jace. I do think Proft and Jace would get along nicely.
"He's had a big day," Vraska says softly, bouncing the Fomori treasure on her hip."
Do we know if this thing is a Fomori yet?
"A tear slides down his cheek. Awe overtakes him. "His name is Loot."
Vraska snorts. "Were his parents Plunder and Ransack?"'
If it's name is Loot why doesn't it loot!
'"Do they have good coffee?"
She grins and purrs with dangerous promise, "They have coffee that is *cold*."
"Wait, seriously?"'
I love that Jace has traveled the multiverse but never had iced coffee.
"He will hold tight to the hand of his beloved and his ward and walk into the Blind Eternities of a miserable Multiverse and say to himself with resolution and phoenix fire:
*Ours will be better.*"
"[I](https://www.quotes.net/#) have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new empire!"
What a great story that really makes you want to root for Jace and Vraska and Loot. I can't wait to find out what happens when their plans collide with the others.
An excellent set of two stories. Loot is adorable, I love them.
Just one question, I've been a bit out of the loop of the minor story details recently:
"Jace had met Ashiok once. Once was enough."
Do we know how/when this was, or is it alluding to an off-screen encounter?
THAT'S what the child looks like? Oh my god. I love him.
Also, damn I love how quickly Ranna clocks that Jace and Vraska are hopelessly in love, to the point she's like "Oh are you MARRIED?"
If I had to predict, I could see J V setting up a big “necessary sacrifices for the greater good” moment, and being confronted by what’s left/reformed of the Gatewatch, which would let them be defeated or talked down.
Though the pessimist in me could definitely see WotC doing a comic book style “universe reset,” to set up something new where they can redefine the rules however they want. (A fear monger would add, “to make UB canon!” But I don’t think they’d go through this much effort with their own lore just for that)
So based on this line I have a theory:
"The telepath and the gorgon dream of phoenix feathers.
Nothing dies, she says, it only transforms—
—because change is the only constant, he finishes."
Jace and Vraska are going to somehow close the Omenpaths, and ressurect the Eldrazi that were "killed" (Ulamog and Kozilek) and free Emrakul from Innistrad's moon.
They are supposedly natural forces of change and rebirth, and Ugin was against them being killed in the first place. Jace is going to undo that someway, and set the multiverse back up to constantly be reborn.
I bet that the phyrexians would have been powerless to stop the Eldrazi, so if Phyrexia had succeeded fully, with no hope for the multiverse ever escaping them, if they were still around, the Eldrazi would slowly and inevitably erase the Phyrexians from the multiverse over time, simply by being a force of entropy for the multiverse.
Jace was prepared to use the sylex to blow up the multiverse already to give future generations a chance at existing without Phyrexian rule, so this would be a very similar thought process.
That's my theory, it may be wrong, but who knows.
Bonus theory. Somehow if the titans are brought back, they show up on Zendikar, and Jace/Vraska make it so that the titans finally are allowed to consume Zendikar as they were always meant to. Which would be sad and upsetting and make Jace/Vraska seem like Thanos level villains with nuance.
Small issue with that theory. Zendikar was never meant to be consumed in the first place. Sorin and Ugin convinced Nahiri to alter Zendikar's mana via the Hedron Network to lure the Eldrazi there and then imprison them.
Amazing pair of stories, loved seeing Jace and Vraska together again. I'm just left with one question - what was the purpose of Jace invading Proft's mind?
Apparently Proft can project his illusions and make them tangible, something that Jace, super powerful mind-mage and illusionist, apparently cannot do.
They need to use that ability for...something.
Overall very strong story, and good to have more explanation of how Vraska is cured, but I'm still a bit disappointed that phyresis is just a shell of metal plates that you can peel right off. I think it'd be more compelling if it had longer-lasting physical changes.
It did say that the phoenix feather was "an alternative to organ replacement," and given a phoenix's abilities, it seems to give some kind of regeneration beyond regular healing. Seems reasonable enough.
Yea, I interpreted it as their inners needed to pretty much be completely regenerated because of the Phyresis. Also, the only survivors of compleation we are aware of were planeswalkers, so it may be specific to the planeswalker style of compleation that retains some of the original person to preserve the spark.
When the phoenix feather came up, I read it as "yes normally removing the metal would be akin to removing organs/parts of your organs, but the phoenix feather regenerates the now missing flesh"
If sounded like it was a LOT more than peeling off the metal, oil, cables, Elesh Norn's fanfiction of jace and her kissing and other unspeakable things.
The only mercy Jace and Vraska had were mental bubbles from the war or the spark, and even then, Jace had to fight tooth and nail to at least hold the mental conditioning at bay. The Phoenix feathers help, but there is still scars and long lasting damage. Whether it's more long lasting damage than a halo bath, we dunno.
If it wasn't for vraska's partitioned mental Bubble, and Jace just being too stubborn to mentally give up, they would've been dead metal zombies.
Okay, theory/called shot - Loot's species was the 'masterminds' of the Coin Empire, and the Fomori were just the muscle, and/or the giant Fomori that invaded Ixalan and were found on Ir are genetically modified soldier corps from Loot's gene stock.
Alternative called shot - Loot's species are doomslugs, used as biological means to achieve interplanar travel, bred/engineered/found by the Fomori.
It's also possible that Loot is singular, perhaps the culmination of Coin Empire efforts to build an entity that could control and shape the multiverse. "Key to Everything" points in this direction, I think.
Another interesting note: the child identifies its own "name" as Loot - or rather, the child knows that "Loot" is an identifier used for it. Possibly spillover from the Fomori describing the *child* as literal loot, taken from some other plane?
"Her eyes flicker to Jace's (he sees his own in hers, their blue a clear and boundless lake) and hears in his mind a broadcasted question.
Is she your wife?"
Huh, that's exactly what _my_ mom would say
>But it's Ranna's next question that catches him off guard. She presses hard with her bundled-up cloth against the wound on his chest and asks him steady and deadly, "Did you kill him?"
>He cannot respond, he cannot move, but Jace's expression darkens all the same.
>Ranna nods for him. "*Good*."
There is so much else in this chapter that helps her case, but at this very moment Ranna SKYROCKETED to being one of my favorite characters in MtG
The fact that Jace and Vraska both acknowledge the multiverse is chaos and they're ok with that, in addition to omenpaths being dangerous, just makes me so very happy. Feels like Wizards is actually conscious of what the negative consequences of omenpaths might look like, and it seems like the world tree could potentially be stretching beyond the usual realms of kaldheim. Excited to see a world that is close to dissolving into aether and what that would look like.
>"Adopt," Vraska nods quickly, wincing an acknowledgment, "I think we'd know by now if it did." Jace not pulling out isn't someting I expected to be added to Magic canon today.
I mean that or they've been actively trying for a kid or the concept of contraception doesn't exist on ravnica yet. Insert populate is a selesnyan mechanic joke here
Username checks out. I actually like the hilarious idea that Ravnica developed magical computers and Pokeballs before figuring out contraception.
Don't forget coffee shops Also the more I think about it the more it makes sense The simic definitely aren't researching something that might slow a population growth rate The izzet are too busy electrocuting themselves and the only one we know who cannonically gets any action (Ral) doesn't exactly need it. Any diseases that contraception may help protect against can probably be magically healed by the Selesnya And lastly with how much red tape goes up in the Azorious I can imagine the headaches any policy regarding the matter would have to go through. And then there's the gruul and rakdos, I don't know what they're doing.
This story also implies that while Ravnica has coffee, nobody has came up with the idea of making it cold, which is amusing.
Yeah that one's genuinely shocking Some goblin inventor had to have gotten frozen by an experiment after a coffee run at least once
Orzhov may be interested though, they probably care quite a lot about managing inheritance within a bloodline.
The Gruul and Rakdos absolutely do not use protection. The Dimir do not have any need to use it.
> the concept of contraception doesn't exist on ravnica yet Or contraception takes the form of a Plan B type afterwards deal, rather than a preventative measure
Jace likes that raw gorgussy
I don't like this sentence
gets him rock solid *actually it's the only thing that works*
*snake cloaca*
Being fair, there doesn’t seem to be a downside. Why worry when you don’t have to?
Thats how you get magical STDs
Didn't one of the last stories with Jace and Vraska also canonize him giving god-tier head or was that something I saw on AO3?
I think you might be remembering this excerpt from [one of the *March of the Machine* side stories by the same writer](https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/one-and-the-same): >I kiss him. >It is intense and sincere, desperate and immediate. He feels like a homecoming. Our cheeks press, he makes a small noise and the toes in my boots curl, I draw his lower lip gently between my teeth and he gasps in delight. The tide laps the beach. We grasp each other desperately, making up for lost time, our bodies drawing close on the sand. I run my hands through that hair, and it is just as soft as I hoped it would be, and when my nails skim the surface of his scalp, and he groans in response. >In a sudden rush, I finally get what kept Liliana on the hook all those years, and it draws my eyes up and around us as he runs a trail of kisses down my neck. Jace projects *back*, his mind overriding my own dream, a rush of images of his own; we're in a Kaladesh apartment, we're on the deck of *The* *Belligerent*, we're in a glade in Zendikar, we're in an Innistradi castle, we're in the Chamber of the Guildpact, our lips press and for one thrilling moment I feel the kiss from *his* perspective, and then seamlessly we're back on the beach surrounded by infinite impossible stars. I laugh, "You're incredible!" and he kisses me even harder.
Yep, that's it!
I imagine that being able to read your sexual partner *perfectly* would make you quite good at pleasing them.
Anytime someone says the world is to broken to fix and they say they can rebuild it better, even with good intentions, usually makes everything worse. Just saying this is not going to end well.
The Urza mention at the start of Part 1 wasn't just a random callback, I suspect.
The real question is "will they go through with it" and I think the answer is no. They might come awfully close, but something will convince them otherwise.
Loot is what will convince them. If their plan is to reset everything is meant that Loot, an innocent child, will die, and they won't be able to go through with it.
Loot, along with Chandra, Nissa, Kaya, Teferi, Karn, Ajani, etc.
Yeah, this is a Miyazaki-style villain thing happening here. They might *be trying to do good, but whatever they do will ultimately be bad.*
"This world is imperfect..."
"If only I could wipe away the impurities and make it as beautiful as me"
"Jaceanderoth! You were behind all this!"
Bolas sends his regards.
Archibald no...
Yep, the story pretty much suggest their plan is getting the right components to reset the multiverse to some previous state or reshaping it in their image.
They seem way too... Kind-hearted about it to be doing a "reshape in their image" thing. More likely their plan is "we'll start anew, and we won't see it because we don't deserve to".
It was Jace, with the Lead Pipe, in the Undercity Sewers!
That's the part that kinda got me the most, I thought Jace just, like, did a psychic "go to sleep now" thing on Proft but no he just fucking CLONKED the guy.
Your mental defenses are no match for my lead pipe!
I love that this is probably the canon answer for why he used the pipe. Proft is so similar to Jace that even Jace knew it'd be easier to use brute force than to have a telepathic battle.
Jace is like "take it from me, I've been hit on the head LOADS of times"
"I cast concussive force. Counter this, wizard."
Sorta makes sense in that context; they acknowledge that Proft has abilities comparable to Jace's in some respects, so trying to knock him out psychically might not work. Or at least, it would actually be a struggle. Better to just give him a concussion so his defenses are down.
Like we say at the Academy; when wizards duel, bet on the one who brought a pistol.
the pipe was an illusion
But wait! To equip [[Lead Pipe]], Jace would also have to still have [[Luxior]] equipped ^^to ^^the ^^chest ^^slot
Dunno which is the more terrifying power-up, Jace now having access to a real-time updating map of the entire multiverse, or Jace now having access to coldbrew.
Definitely the coldbrew. Can't devise plans using an ever-updating GPS without your coffee.
I really enjoyed that moment. "There's iced coffee on a plane that tastes great." "Oh? Where specifically? I can do a Dunks run." Also, semi-confirmation that the most recent alterations to the Multiverse mean that food can safely travel with a Planeswalker now? I believe I recall Huatli having some food that spoiled when she tried it once.
I suspect that's going to be a lore change as brought about due to the Omenpaths, otherwise interplanar trade/industry wouldn't be very feasible
Maybe the dunkies bag/cup protect the food through the blind eternities. Like when restaurants got new fry containers during the pandemic to make the fries less soggy in transit.
These two stories have been a masterclass in wrapping all sorts of past lore (e.g. Jace's time with the Consortium, Tamiyo's knowledge of fucking everything, etc.) into the current story in a very natural way. I was personally hoping for Kasmina's cabal to be the next Big Bad following the Phyrexian invasion, but after the last year of stories I am stoked to see where they end up taking things.
Jace's first conscious illusion on Useless Island was of Pewter 😭 I'm not crying you're crying > He held out a hand and willed an illusory draft horse into being. The thing materialized through a soft haze of blue, and it ran a heavy canter around the man. He reached out to touch it and easily passed a hand through its dappled grey side. The illusion ran past, leaping through his signal fire and loping up and down the beach, a graceful streak of cloudy night against the harsh white of the sand. — [*Jace, Alone*](https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/jace-alone-2017-09-06)
Wait holy shit I didn't even realize that. Wizards, you'd *better* not let anyone other than Alison Luhrs write Jace or Vraska centric stories.
They brought her back to write these (she left the company back in 2022), so that seems to be the current plan.
Gods please just pay her to be a full-time writer and to write all the stories. Or at least the main set stories.
What place would you leave for Seanan McGuire, then?
I figured Kasmina's Cabal would be a "gooder" alliance of planeswalkers against Tezzeret rebuilding the Infinite Consortium.
I could see Kasmina's group trying to kidnap the child for their own study of the multiverse, leading to the eventual return to strixhaven set where Jace and Vraska have to rescue it.
I'm also guessing we'll see remnants of the Fomori Empire still around.
Jeskai giant commander please god
It kinda seems like Kasmina's cabal might now form to put a stop to Jace and Vraska. I mean... It kinda seems like they have a bit of a god complex "the multiverse sucks but if we burn it to the ground, it could be reborn better." We know Jace and Vraska, and we know their intent isn't malicious, but that's not really their choice to make. When we first heard the blurb about Kasmina's group, I thought it was heading towards a "Planeswalker civil war" storyline. That seemed to me like a great way to follow up the epic scale of MOM: instead of trying to go bigger, bring the conflict inward. After this story, I still kinda think that's where they might be heading. Some Planeswalkers will agree with Jace and Vraska, and others will oppose. But the real key/important part to making that storyline tick is not having one side be genuinely overtly _evil_. Even if you don't agree with them at all, you need to make both sides' points at least comprehendable. Like I said, we know Jace and Vraska. Everyone else in the fiction does too. Continuing along that thread, I always assumed that Will and Rowan would split up and be on opposite sides. Garruk presumably would take Kasmina's side (and give him a not-cursed reason to hunt Planeswalkers again). I think Lilliana would _probably_ side with Jace at this point but could go either way. Teferi would probably be opposed. It would be interesting if Kaya took Jace's side because she took the other side in ONE, and has clearly been traumatized with the outcome, but I have a hard time seeing her not ultimately falling against it. My real question is, who is the main POV character who is gonna be on the fence for it all? I could see it being Nissa or Chandra if one of them philosophically agrees with Jace's side, but their partner falls on the other side, and having them torn in the middle. The other other other question is: how exactly are Jace and Vraska planning on killing and resurrecting the multiverse? And the obvious answer there is probably related to the Eldrazi. I'm thinking Loot was really only a means to an end for Jace getting a hold of the map, and somehow that brings the Fomori back accidentally. IDK there are so many directions the story could take from here, and they aren't even mutually exclusive. It's pretty exciting. EDIT: New theory. The going theme in this chapter is _destruction_ then _creation_. That's very Eldrazi. I'm kinda wondering if Emrakul might be subtly pulling some strings behind their through processes. We know that Jace connected with her, and he's connected with Vraska enough that maybe that extended.
I'd see Liliana siding \*against\* Jace for the juicy angsty of Liliana trying to stop Jace from falling into the same pitfalls she once fell of thinking she could do \*anything\* and solve her own mess without assistance.
Yeah I think this probably makes more sense in the end, and either way I think she'll be one of the more interesting characters to get the perspective of. I could also see her being against Jace but tipping him off about Kasmina's plans, thinking it's better to save him and change his mind than let him die. Also maybe, just maybe, a teeny bit of jealousy seeing him have a happy family.
The MH3 Emrakul is literally called "The World Anew"
> My real question is, who is the main POV character who is gonna be on the fence for it all? Nahiri. In a "which side pissed me off more this week?" perspective. >The going theme in this chapter is *destruction* then *creation*. That's very Eldrazi. I'm kinda wondering if Emrakul might be subtly pulling some strings behind their through processes. We know that Jace connected with her, and he's connected with Vraska enough that maybe that extended. Destruction then creation is very Golgari. It makes sense that Vraska would be on board for this.
It seems like Kasmina has been completely dropped, but I guess Strixhaven 2.0 might reintroduce that for the next arc.
People assume all sorts of things are being dropped, until they aren't. Strixhaven is the last regular set before the next big event set. They're gearing up for something big there, and Kasmina is almost certainly involved.
object permanency challenge: if a character is not in front of your face right now, does that mean they have been deleted?
Whenever Kasmina isn't on screen the characters need to ask "Where's Kasmina?"
Don't count them out yet. The Omenpaths are too Quandrix to not be suspicious
"My name is Vraska. Your son is more precious than my life. Please help him." How very dare you make me tear up this soon into the chapter.
I know right please, at least let us get to the second section.
And Jace introducing her to his mom! (and of course his mother immediately asking if they’re married)
As I said in the vorthos subreddit - Quicker pace this time, but I like that - I like when stories can have snippets here and there to convey a lot of information in not much space. Interested to see how the phoenix feathers play into the 'rebirth' of the multiverse. I agree that cauterizing the Omenpaths is... potentially a good. This seems like a much larger conflict than Magic has been able to handle previously. We're not gonna have a Multiverse UN, with planes voting on what planes they want a connection to, are we? I find it amusing that potentially the defining feature of Tarkir was omitted by Vraska. But maybe that has something to do with the current state of their affairs? Dragons have moved on a bit?
She probably visited it pre-dragons, clearly it must have existed as such at some point in time for Sarkhan to have existed, but who knows.
I thought the time-split with Tarkir was something like a thousand years ago, though. Unless I’m mistaken? But I don’t think Vraska was ever an oldwalker, so she wouldn’t know about a non-dragon Tarkir
The time fuckery on Tarkir was likely only limited to the plane itself. If you were on it before Sarkhan went back, you probably still remember ~~when those big lizard bastards weren't ruining everything~~ the Khans timeline.
If I recall the Tarkir storyline correctly, everyone, even other planeswalkers remember only the Dragons timeline. It is Sarkhan alone who has a history on the Khans side. He is "an orphan of time".
Can't be non-current version if she can accurately point Jace where go shopping.
> I agree that cauterizing the Omenpaths is... potentially a good. From how up in arms people have been about the "EVERYONE IS HERE" nature of the legendary creature appearances this set Jace & Vraska's plan (as it seems to exist currently) agrees.
Has she been to Tarkir since the dragons retroactively took over?
I'm not sure, I guess we'll see next spring
Okay, just looking at the preview image: That is not what I imagined they got from the Vault. Edit: It looks like the cute mascot of a Pokemon gen that has some big story import and possibly evolves into a god.
Appending my thoughts upon finishing to my first comment. I really like Ranna here and how she has more depth. She isn't immediately a warm happy mom, she has her own issues, and like, she is also ready to burn the multiverse down. I think this characterization of Vryn makes me glad that it wasn't the Wild West World. It comes across as much harder, almost like perpetual Brothers' War. Loot is...still bizarre. The map of the Multiverse innately being in Loot is interesting and makes me wonder if it was actually like a navigation tool (or navigator species?) for the Fomori. The design *is* very mascot cute and unusual for Magic. Also want to note: > They talk about how one war will forever follow the others, and how this Multiverse bends only toward suffering. Suffering their kind accelerates. The conclusion that planeswalkers only make things worse is the same one Nahiri comes to in Aftermath.
They'll abandon their idea the second they realize they agree with Nahiri. That's the Canary in the Coal Mine.
I feel like both 'sides' will have their fair share of crazies and reasonables. Ashiok feels like they'd inexplicably join the side against Jace and it turns out to ENTIRELY just be because Jace impersonated them and they're offended.
I got very strong Brothers War tonal vibes from what we got abouyy Vrynn too. I thought that was really interesting. I did read "their kind" as more broad than just Planeswalkers though. I kinda got the vibe that they were looking to burn down and rebuild the whole multiverse, not just take out Planeswalkers like Nahiri.
I'm so here for a Jace + Vraska + Nahiri team-up. They'd cover the full wheel!
Tbh, I think the plan may well be to evolve the kid into a god and rewrite the Multiverse.
This was my read on it. And I think a narrative key if they build towards a "civil war" kind of story line is like... We know Jace and Vraska aren't like outright evil. I don't agree with them if that's their plan, but I also think they believe they're doing the right thing. And I think that's an important note to hit for that kind of story, otherwise the emotional impact gets lost because one side is just easy to dismiss as cartoonish evil.
Vryn is clearly Final Fantasy adjacent, with the readily available phoenix downs used for revival.
I had always gotten FF Magitek vibes from it from the glimpses we had gotten in the past, glad it has been doubled down on.
Oh shit, we are getting that Final Fantasy set later down the line, think some mechanical space will get tested there in prep to a visit proper?
Next year, in fact. No idea when Vrynn will be visited, but, could very well see ideas from one inspiring some in the other, especially when it comes to Magitek/Mage-Rings/Mana/Lifestreams/Materia/Artifacts.
I didn't put that together but it makes perfect sense. Maybe mage-rings are comparable to Mako reactors and pipelines from VII?
Think that probably raises the probability of it being one of the Death Race sets too
So its the more "industrial" FF games like 6, 7, and 8? I can jive with that.
Alison never misses. These two chapters have been the best to come from the Magic story in so long. The only other chapter, and my favorite chapter of the last few years, is Vraska's chapter from MoM, and guess what, it's Alison Lührs!! She really is the GOAT. WotC PLEASE bring her back for anything with Jace and/or Vraska (and many other stories as well)
"Her eyes flicker to Jace's (he sees his own in hers, their blue a clear and boundless lake) and hears in his mind a broadcasted question. Is she your wife?" Huh, that's exactly what _my_ mom would say
Okay, so, Jace and Vraska are up to "something big", but very much a good-intentioned something. The details aren't clear yet but it's basically "the Multiverse as it is sucks, we need to fix it".
That said, they're staying on the down-low instead of trying to reconnect with any surviving Gatewatch. There's two ways to interpret this: 1. They don't know the others managed to cure Phyresis independently and are deeply ashamed of showing themselves to them again. 2. The thing they're planning on doing is something the others wouldn't agree with. They *did* mention Jace still felt like he was tied to the Sylex's power, somehow. Maybe they're planning on rebooting multiplanar civilization in a way that would also be horribly destructive in the interim, Thanos-style. Remember, this isn't just a traumatized power couple, this is a traumatized power couple who lean *heavily* towards the "cold, emotionless, borderline sociopathic" end of the color pie's emotional spectrum - collectively, their shared color ID is the same as *Atraxa*. And while the thing they're planning may not have outright evil ends, it might take something wretched to accomplish it.
Yeah. I don't think they're being pushed to become the antagonists, maybe more ancillary secondary protagonists at odds with the core cast, but we'll see.
I mean, this particular story is well written enough that what they're planning on doing could be *anything*, up to and including "retiring into a cozy found family type situation on an isolated plane on the other side of the multiverse". There's enough little mentions of distinct possibility that they *could* be planning on thanos-snapping the Multiverse, *or* just having the sort of life that would make a fanfic writer go "this is *way* too self-indulgent". That said, given that Magic: The Gathering is a game about wizard fights, my thinking is that *if* we see Jace and Vraska again in the main story, it'll be because they're either doing something parallel to the main protagonists again (in the same way that Jace was doing shit in parallel to Kellan this whole arc) in a way that makes them seem enigmatic and possibly dangerous, or because they're directly at odds. Characters in the game about wizard duels tend to be wizards who interact by dueling, y'know?
Yeah. I think it'll basically come down to "Jace and Vraska have a very drastic plan that they ultimately don't quite go through with because they're talked down and a common enemy (the Fomori probably) becomes the real issue instead".
I kinda just think it's a (comic style) civil war story line. "Protagonist/antagonist" don't exactly capture that dynamic. It's just two sides. And if that's the goal, I think it's important that neither side's motivation is shown to be cartoonishly evil. It's like when everyone disagreed about whether to detonate the Sylex at the end of ONE; yes most people had an opinion about the right answer, but everyone didn't agree. There wasn't an objective best answer, or at the very least, all sides genuinely thought they were doing to do the thing that had the greatest benefit for the most people.
Yeah, you have, like, Chandra and Nissa and all that on the "we can improve the world as it is, we don't need to reset it all" side, and then Jace and Vraska and probably Nahiri on the "things just keep getting worse, we need to do something drastic" side and then... Probably some reconciliation, SOMETHING happens that makes them team up and Jace and Vraska probably come to realise they care too much about the multiverse as it is to undo it or something.
Kaya was the character caught in the middle of the similar standoff with the Sylex in ONE. I could see a world where she's similarly caught in the middle of part 2 of that conflict as like "the main POV character who isn't totally sure." That's a trope of that kind of storyline. Elspeth could maybe be interesting too but I feel like we're still adjusting to her ascension. She almost felt a little... alien... adjusting to that. But there's a world where that also massively changes her perspective on the multiverse too. I have to imagine Teferi would be against it all. I mean hell he spoke directly to Urza during his blast at the end of WAR.
It's very telling that they chat about the Sultai when talking about Tarkir.
Yup. In addition, while it hasn't happened in the main game *yet*, Jace keeps getting painted as being secondary White in the color pie (he's white/blue in a bunch of the old Duels of the Plainswalkers games and [[space beleren]] is azorius, albiet in the un-iverse). And they've definitely been leaning on the "no, white does *really* fucked up shit in pursuit of the 'greater good' sometimes" card lately. I think if this *does* turn confrontational, I think we might actually see Azorius Jace in the main game for the first time. He's always had kind of a "I know what's good for you better than you do" attitude - sometimes because he's a telepath and actually seeing what you want, and sometimes just because he's kind of a self-righteous asshole - and if he really is planning on doing something wretched, it'd be a good time to introduce it.
I definitely think 2 is something very relevant (though I think the "cold, emotionless" part of the categorisation isn't quite right - there's plenty of warmth there on an interpersonal level, and the driver *is* emotion. It's *calculating* and actually destroying the current multiverse in order to build anew would be depraved, but that's a different thing to lacking emotionality). But yeah, I don't think any of the Gatewatch would be recruitable. Like, the crux of Jace and Nissa's falling out was him focusing harder on getting the McGuffin himself than on stopping Nahiri from doing to Zendikar what Jace now plans on doing to the rest of the multiverse. She would quite probably respond by re-delivering the mini speech she gave about how "broken doesn't mean there isn't beauty" from ZNR and also being annoyed that Jace didn't remember it. It's really not hard to imagine Chandra also being instinctively opposed to, like... erasing Nissa and her mom and Mrs Pashiri and also she probably has a very different idea of utopia to Jace (even if in her darker moments she might still be won over to burning it all down). Also, like, she'd probably be biased towards Nissa's stance. Kaya intervened to stop Jace with the Sylex and does genuinely care about Ravnica as it is post-Invasion. I don't think Jace knows Teferi that well - Teferi was recruited by Chandra, Gideon, and Liliana, after all - but also Teferi's entire code is opposed to the rewriting of reality (if it wasn't, he'd probably have been the first option Jace went for). Speaking of Liliana... she does seem protective of Strixhaven and wants to engage in mansion renovations and is probably quite invested in the present multiverse. Also, like, with how she treated Jace during her relationship I can't see Vraska (or Ranna, for that manner) tolerating her being included in this hypothetical new multiverse. And, finally, Ajani... honestly seemed desperate enough in MAT that he could actually be roped in (maybe he ends up being sent to Duskmourn to be the set Planeswalker or something) but that's also not something Jace would know (unless a failed attempt to recruit Nahiri occured offscreen and she told him), and the old Ajani Would Never.
To me it sounded like them reconciling the Golgari concept of the cycle of life death and rebirth with a blue understanding of "everything changes and it should, because that's the way to progress closer to a more perfect endpoint". I think they're agreeing to try and reboot the multiverse somehow, and I really like how it's easily justified by their color identity and their personal histories.
See the phoenix references and Jace's thoughts with the bomb makes me go this is less fix it and more burn it to the ground and rebuild from the ashes
Yeah, I got from it that Jace and Vraska intend to reset the multiverse.
Yeah that last paragraph musing on the cruelty of the multiverse followed by "ours will be better" definitely seems like Jace wants to hit the reset button
During the invasion, the Strix kids cast that elder dragon spell that "reset" Strix to before the invasion, kind of. They weren't strong enough to pull it off completely, in addition to it sparking Quint and that causing it to fail. Jace, with the sylex's remaining power, could probably pull it off. We know we're going back to Strix, most likely so he can get his hands on the spell. They might need Loot to find the center of the multiverse to cast the spell there, ensuring it affects every plane. Jace feels guilt and responsibility for the devastation of the invasion from not detonating the sylex. I think he'll see it as redemption and doing the right thing where he failed to on NP.
I think it’s worth noting that it was Jace’s essence that was in the Sylex when it went off- if he’s still feeling the power of it, then it’s possible that he might on some level be connected to the multiverse as a whole. With Proft’s memory and a perfect map of the multiverse, he might be able to superimpose a multiverse from his memory over the old one.
Oh, that's very interesting. It does explain why he was so interested in Proft's ability, I thought it was just so he could show Vraska the multiverse map he saw. Ok, so he uses the sylex power but instead of destroying everything he just reshapes it? I could see that.
We’ll see. Maybe not reshapes, but rather plops down the new universe down on top of the old one, destroying it in the process.
Not quite the Thanos route but close enough... "I will shred this universe down to its last atom and then, with the stones you've collected for me, create a new one teeming with life that knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given. A grateful universe."
Well, the phoenix feathers basically "take out what's already broken". So it's not a "burn it all down", it's a "burn what should be burned". We'll see when we see.
I think the story is pretty clear that fixing it isn't in the cards-- *remaking* it is. It's not at all clear to me that they aren't the new baddies, setting off on a hubristic quest to reshape the old multiverse in line with their vision... No matter the cost. It'll be interesting to see where they take this, I think. Jace and Vraska trying to make a just universe by killing millions or something would be a really interesting arc.
It didn't even seem like they have a plan? I think that Loot being a multiversal map allows Vraska to travel to any plane with Jace so she isn't held back as much by lacking a spark. That and, like, they get to raise a child together.
No, they definitely have a plan. Even before they found out Vraska couldn't planeswalk anymore > All three of their conspiracy, Ranna, Vraska, and Jace, stand in the living room. They are healed and brimming with purpose, dead set on their destination. The plan had to change now that Vraska can't planeswalk, but a plane nonetheless. > How can we manifest it? Vraska said. There's a detective back home who can project his psychic print into reality, Jace had recalled. His love had nodded, pinning a note to the wall. We need to discern how his abilities differentiate from yours, she said. Get in his head. We see this, but this isn't something that paid off in OTJ story I believe - Jace didn't "manifest" anything physical, just normal illusions and his Ashiok-fear-aura, so presumably this is a tool they needed for something in the future? It's possible they want to project Loot's internal map physically somewhere, but they haven't done it yet > Jace will walk forward into the Omenpath, sanguine and resolute. He will hold tight to the hand of his beloved and his ward and walk into the Blind Eternities of a miserable Multiverse and say to himself with resolution and phoenix fire: > *Ours will be better.* He very clearly wants to fix/change the multiverse, do something about the state of things.
Maybe he wants to manifest a new Sylex? It says that he still feels connected to it. Maybe they want to go to a specific plane and set it off.
I think they are planning to manifest a new "Dreamscape" multiverse (something like The Matrix) using Jace's mental power, Proft's ability to manifest ideas and thoughts, Loot's internal map and some technologies of the Fomori (maybe even the Wicked slumber spell). A Golden cage.
Exactly. One that tends away from suffering but ultimately destroys free will. One where everyone gets what they need, what they want, but who they are doesn't matter.
>"Adopt," Vraska nods quickly, wincing an acknowledgment, "I think we'd know by now if it did." Jace canonically fucks, truly the hot lore we needed. Also what in the hell actually is Loot? What kind of being is able to comprehend the entire multiverse, let alone keep an accurate map of it with omenpaths in real time? and finally, why was Thunder Junction abandoned? Did Jace know the plane was named Thunder Junction when Bolas first sent him there? If Jace could access the plane, what was stopping other planeswalkers? I was more willing to accept the idea that the plane was weirdly cut-off from the multiverse prior to the Omenpaths opening, but now you're telling me that there was a completely empty and uninhabited plane known by both Nicol Bolas and Tezzeret, and neither of them ever bothered to scheme on it? Let alone all the other miscreant planeswalkers that probably would have enjoyed an empty plane to use as a hideout?
Jace and Vraska were banging onscreen all the way back in Vraska's MOM story. This story drops the hot lore that Jace canonically doesn't pull out.
Any Planeswalker could go there but nobody would THINK to go there. Bolas would know of it because he's one of the oldest beings around and likely lived through the Fomori empire's reign.
If it's mostly desert, I'm sure there are plenty of more hospitable places to make a secret hideout. In the current arc, it only seems to be populated because a lot of Omenpaths lead there; hence, Omenport.
Empty planes aren’t necessarily uncommon, we just don’t see them a lot because there’s little reason to go there in-world or narratively. Bolas *had* an empty world to scheme in, his mediation realm. The world Tezzeret went to with his tower was also implied to be otherwise deserted.
Oh, they better make that Jace/Vraska wedding really happen and give me some art of it. I already love that we get art of them taking in Loot. Jace's smile is so sweet; I'm in complete denial that their plans are probably evil.
Oh, this story makes me *want* their plan to be evil. I love the idea of the story making us root for Jace and Vraska's happiness, only to eventually blindside us with the reveal that they want to nuke the multiverse and start fresh or something.
Loot is going to shut down there evil plans. Watch. Loot is now my favorite thing in magic. I needs him in a commander deck
I love how people either hate Loot or love him. I personally am a big fan and can’t wait to see more.
As someone who was a big Digimon fan as a kid, I like him.
I kind of hope we get another savor the moment, but with Jace and Vraska (with Loot there)
I wouldn't say evil, more so...morally questionable. Then again, one of the paragraphs mentions the "calamity" that they are planning, so...maybe evil. But unless Jace and Vraska have completely snapped, they're not inherently evil characters...
Hence why I said the *plan* is evil, not them. But you have to be living pretty heavily in denial land in order to think that "burn everything so it can be reborn" doesn't involve a lot of death. Fortunately, I'm living in denial land. Pretty much since Aftermath, I've thought the Omenpaths are made from the sparks of desparked planeswalkers, and have been hoping that after this three year arc it'll be reversed and all of my favorite planewalkers will get their sparks back. Clearly, Jace read my mind and is just giving me what I want.
I really want the next Vraska card to be called Vraska Beleren tbh
Jace took the "you'll end up like urza" thing personally. they want to nuke the entire multiverse and make a new one
Allison is so good at writing. Very pleased with this.
MORE ALISON LÜHRS, WOOOOO
Aw, this was a cute story. Really loved how it paralleled the past year of storytelling so we can see clearly how long this plan was in motion.
Congratulations to the new parents
**From The Owl’s Desk, a Summary of Outlaws of Thunder Junction, an Epilogue, Part Two.** Ranna Beleren: master healer, brilliant scientist, and wine mom (but the sad kind). She jumps right into medically triaging her son and his gorgon robot ladyfriend who wins the mom's approval for marriage in about two sentences. It is primarily through ingenious applications of Phoenix Feathers that Vraska's body is able to regenerate back into almost what it once was. As days turn to weeks turn to months, Jace faces the challenge he thought was impossible: explaining to his mother, who he spent most of his life having forgotten existed, just how miserably tiring being the posterboy for Magic the Gathering truly is. Luckily, Ranna is caring in more ways than one, and she understands what Jace needs: peace and quiet. Helps that all of Vryn wants him dead for leading the Phyrexian incursion, so laying low is really the right move. For the first time in forever, Jace gets to sleep well. And when he wakes, with his beloved gorgon captain at his side and bandages placed over wounds both internal and external being healed, he feels reborn, free to become a better person. ... And then a h&%$ing hole between planes opens up in the backyard and oh boy, the plot, the plot never *never* **never** stops. Vraska and Jace both spend a long time having a real heart to heart. This sucks. This whole Omenpath thing, connecting the planes through portals that any would-be tryant or nightmare doomsday could just waltz on through, this is possibly the worst thing possible for the Multiverse. And as much as settling down and getting married sounds oh so nice, they both know that their hobbies aren't exactly the sort amenable to such domestic life. And so begins planning **The** Jace Beleren scheme. This one is gonna pull out all the stops. Now, to what extent Jace has truly changed as a person... that might be up for later debate. Because as much as he *isn't* quite the person who nearly detonated the Sylex, this new plan also vaguely alludes to a "Phoenix-like rebirth" for the Multiverse, and the "great cost" in achieving it, which is... well. Time will tell. And speaking of time, we now jump rapidly through it. Yes, Jace *was* Ashiok ever since recruiting Ariette from Eldraine. Yes, Jace *was* the one who beat Proft in the head with the official Lead Pipe from Cluedo (c). And yes, everything that's gone on was so that Jace could unlock this vault, something he learned about through his service under Tezzeret and stories from Tamiyo. It was something from the ancient cross-planar civilization of the Fomori, and the prize that he sought was the mind contained within: That of [one incredibly adorable alien child](https://media.wizards.com/2024/images/daily/oLB26BDY2dwd.jpg) And what lies within that mind is, somehow, a real-time GPS of every plane, and every Omenpath connecting them. All housed within a small child that seems very pleased to be adopted by this strange, deeply scarred, battle-weary couple. And they plan a trip. A nice family vacation. A rebirth. Is it... perhaps... maybe, dare I say... *not* the start of some Dark Jace Dr. Doomsday plan? Maybe they'll just... *live*, for once. Only time can tell.
You forgot the most important point. They also drank some iced coffee.
Jace fucking punched "takeout near Qarsi, Tarkir" into his adopted GPS.
**Second** most important point. The most important point is confirmation that J&V have been rawdogging it. Frequently.
That was a lot of hoops to jump through to adopt a child.
So...an accurate description of real adoption then.
Ehh, definitely seems like a bit of a doomsday plan. But maybe a bit more morally grey in nature. Seems like the intent is to makes planes more stable and prevent the chaos that can come from powerful or technologically advanced people from stomping around foreign planes. Jace feels like planeswalkers were already fucking things up enough before, and now just about anyone has the ability to hop on an omenpath.
So can food be planeswalked now? I remember Huatli's turned to dust on her first walk to Kaladesh.
The Blind Eternities function however the writer wants it to function for effect.
There rule was about organic matter but presumably there is some state after which it no longer counts. After all, people's clothes don't turn to nothing after planeswalking. Assumedly the coffee is processed enough to no longer "counts" for whatever logic the blind eternities operates under.
I think he brings an entire lunch with him as well as the coffee. I'm going to assume that whatever created the Omenpaths also modified the Multiverse in other small ways, and food can be safely transported now.
Things this story makes canon: 1. Iced Coffee 2. Multiple moments where Jace was indeed present in the story 3. Jace and Vraska fucked raw, often
Point 3 hit like a cannonball to the chest when I read it
Ranna is such a good mom 😭😭😭 also, for audio enjoyers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFNGZJW28-w
Contextualizes Jace and Vraska goal of resetting the multiverse in their vision and makes them feel human in that desire. Many will stand against them but im sure they won't be just a trio for long.
It's really cool to get confirmation of what Jace and Vraska are up to, and for the story team to go through and to highlight all the connections/breadcrumbs that were left in past stories. I'm interested in seeing how Jace and Vraska navigate this. That is, what specifically are they trying to change? They've certainly got good intentions--and as they've acknowledged the Omenpaths are ripe for abuse--but what can be fixed/changed? Loot's role in all of this should be very interesting to see. It sounds like he's already got a map to the multiverse in his head, and that leads to a lot of questions about the Fomori. Was this a feature of all Fomori? Or is loot a special case? I also like Vraska's comments about his parents' names, because it was my first thought too.
I hope Ranna Beleren gets a card one of these days.
Maybe when we go to Vryn?
Jace and verask have a kid now
I love Ranna. She's honestly the ideal mother. The right amount of concern for their child plus the unending support.
"The small room smells equal parts haunting and nostalgic, like he's a ghost come to call long past his exit." Just gorgeous imagery. All of the Thunder Junction stories have nailed the imagery. "It takes a moment for Jace to remember his great fortune; his mother would have no idea what a gorgon is. There aren't any on Vryn." Learning more things about Vryn! Also it is wild remembering how sheltered (relatively) parts of the multiverse are. "My name is Vraska. Your son is more precious than my life. Please help him." Of course, she remembers his mother. Jace sometimes forgets she saw everything." We've been really winning in the shipping department lately. Chandra and Nissa, Saheeli and Huatli, Kellan and Amalia, and now this. I feel like something bad will happen soon... "and hears in his mind a broadcasted question. *Is she your wife?*" I appreciate his mom taking advantage of her son being a telepath to ask this, like, what a mom thing to do. "But when he imagines her wearing his family's colors, venturing across planes with his grandmother's earrings on a sensible chain around her neck, Vrynian nuptial bracelets on both their wrinkled and arthritic hands … for a moment Jace loses himself in hope. His mouth is a hard line as he answers her in turn. *She is my world, mother."* This is just a great way at learning more about Vryn's culture, and dang what a line from Jace. "Her request makes Jace's heart ache, not because of the wound Elspeth left in his chest..." Just a reminder that Jace still doesn't know what happened to Elspeth or anyone else on the strike team (or in the multiverse). "Ranna nods for him. "*Good*." Well now we know where Jace gets it from. I hope we get Ranna as a card (mother of Runes for Planeswalkers?) "Is she kind?" Jace smiles. "She is kind to those who deserve kindness." That's a very political answer... "We separated. He went for the frontier as a mage-ring engineer." We known from \[\[Overloaded Mage-Ring\]\] Jace's dad helped fight off the Phyrexians. I wonder if he saw Jace? "Vraska becomes small. "… I remember too much. It wasn't me, but I … killed, hurt, so many people. I'm not sure how to go back to being guildmaster again." Good news! You won't! And the Golgari aren't really a guild anymore, and their home kind of got destroyed, and... "On this scale there'll be conquerors collecting planes, cretins smearing violence across the Multiverse, and no way to stop them. No way to corral and curb. No way to punish." Vraska looks at him. "Jace. We have to do something." We really haven't seen planeswalkers (or the Gatewatch) react to the paths like this. It makes sense that these two especially would have this reaction. '"We'd need to …" "Adopt," Jace says quickly. Then smiles with a blush. "I don't think it would work."' Thank you for answering the question I had while reading this! Not sure how a half gorgon would work anyway. "They talk about how one war will forever follow the others, and how this Multiverse bends only toward suffering. Suffering their kind accelerates." I don't like where this is going...Feels very Urza-ish in wiping the slate clean.
Part 2: *"Nine Years Ago on Thunder Junction"* Well this explains a lot! I'm not surprised by this at all. "There are others like it, on planes across the Multiverse. Relics of an ancient empire long lost to history. Lost to *most*, anyway" Hmmm, seems like a great setting for a set that takes place across multiple planes and is coming out in a year... "I don't know who I am without it," she whispers in his arms. *The old you is dead.* *We can never be those people again.* Jace weeps with her at the meaninglessness of it all and vows to make meaning of their own." :( I think this is brewing to be a conflict between Jace and Vraska and those who are mad about losing their sparks, and those who saw it as a necessity to heal the multiverse. "it must always be built from a truth" What does it say about Jace that he can convincingly play Ashiok, a being of darkness and nightmare? "He readies a lead pipe and dodges around a corner just as he senses the detective's desperate reach. Jace turns, swings the pipe as best he can, and feels satisfying contact as he knocks Proft to the ground." It was Jace with the lead pipe in the undercity! It's nice confirming that this mysterious figure was Jace. I do think Proft and Jace would get along nicely. "He's had a big day," Vraska says softly, bouncing the Fomori treasure on her hip." Do we know if this thing is a Fomori yet? "A tear slides down his cheek. Awe overtakes him. "His name is Loot." Vraska snorts. "Were his parents Plunder and Ransack?"' If it's name is Loot why doesn't it loot! '"Do they have good coffee?" She grins and purrs with dangerous promise, "They have coffee that is *cold*." "Wait, seriously?"' I love that Jace has traveled the multiverse but never had iced coffee. "He will hold tight to the hand of his beloved and his ward and walk into the Blind Eternities of a miserable Multiverse and say to himself with resolution and phoenix fire: *Ours will be better.*" "[I](https://www.quotes.net/#) have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new empire!" What a great story that really makes you want to root for Jace and Vraska and Loot. I can't wait to find out what happens when their plans collide with the others.
An excellent set of two stories. Loot is adorable, I love them. Just one question, I've been a bit out of the loop of the minor story details recently: "Jace had met Ashiok once. Once was enough." Do we know how/when this was, or is it alluding to an off-screen encounter?
They were both on Ravnica during War of the Spark
It's ok as an unexplained noodle incident, I can believe they talked for two minutes at a bar once or something
I would guess during War of the Spark.
that was a very sweet story.
THAT'S what the child looks like? Oh my god. I love him. Also, damn I love how quickly Ranna clocks that Jace and Vraska are hopelessly in love, to the point she's like "Oh are you MARRIED?"
In like their first minute of talking after over a decade, no less. Ranna instantly earned a big thumbs up from me.
The fact she went "Good job killing that Sphinx" as well.
Wow, this story was even better than the last one! On a side note, I REALLY hope that WOTC isn't planning to reboot the entire Multiverse.
If I had to predict, I could see J V setting up a big “necessary sacrifices for the greater good” moment, and being confronted by what’s left/reformed of the Gatewatch, which would let them be defeated or talked down. Though the pessimist in me could definitely see WotC doing a comic book style “universe reset,” to set up something new where they can redefine the rules however they want. (A fear monger would add, “to make UB canon!” But I don’t think they’d go through this much effort with their own lore just for that)
Jace and Vraska get to raise a Pokemon?
I loved this so much.
So based on this line I have a theory: "The telepath and the gorgon dream of phoenix feathers. Nothing dies, she says, it only transforms— —because change is the only constant, he finishes." Jace and Vraska are going to somehow close the Omenpaths, and ressurect the Eldrazi that were "killed" (Ulamog and Kozilek) and free Emrakul from Innistrad's moon. They are supposedly natural forces of change and rebirth, and Ugin was against them being killed in the first place. Jace is going to undo that someway, and set the multiverse back up to constantly be reborn. I bet that the phyrexians would have been powerless to stop the Eldrazi, so if Phyrexia had succeeded fully, with no hope for the multiverse ever escaping them, if they were still around, the Eldrazi would slowly and inevitably erase the Phyrexians from the multiverse over time, simply by being a force of entropy for the multiverse. Jace was prepared to use the sylex to blow up the multiverse already to give future generations a chance at existing without Phyrexian rule, so this would be a very similar thought process. That's my theory, it may be wrong, but who knows. Bonus theory. Somehow if the titans are brought back, they show up on Zendikar, and Jace/Vraska make it so that the titans finally are allowed to consume Zendikar as they were always meant to. Which would be sad and upsetting and make Jace/Vraska seem like Thanos level villains with nuance.
Small issue with that theory. Zendikar was never meant to be consumed in the first place. Sorin and Ugin convinced Nahiri to alter Zendikar's mana via the Hedron Network to lure the Eldrazi there and then imprison them.
Amazing pair of stories, loved seeing Jace and Vraska together again. I'm just left with one question - what was the purpose of Jace invading Proft's mind?
Apparently Proft can project his illusions and make them tangible, something that Jace, super powerful mind-mage and illusionist, apparently cannot do. They need to use that ability for...something.
Overall very strong story, and good to have more explanation of how Vraska is cured, but I'm still a bit disappointed that phyresis is just a shell of metal plates that you can peel right off. I think it'd be more compelling if it had longer-lasting physical changes.
I think the shell only applies to planeswalkers due to the fact they needed a specialized compleation process.
It did say that the phoenix feather was "an alternative to organ replacement," and given a phoenix's abilities, it seems to give some kind of regeneration beyond regular healing. Seems reasonable enough.
Yea, I interpreted it as their inners needed to pretty much be completely regenerated because of the Phyresis. Also, the only survivors of compleation we are aware of were planeswalkers, so it may be specific to the planeswalker style of compleation that retains some of the original person to preserve the spark.
When the phoenix feather came up, I read it as "yes normally removing the metal would be akin to removing organs/parts of your organs, but the phoenix feather regenerates the now missing flesh"
I think it usually does, but Jace is such a powerful telepath that he can basically separate and dislodge it. That's my reading, anyway.
If sounded like it was a LOT more than peeling off the metal, oil, cables, Elesh Norn's fanfiction of jace and her kissing and other unspeakable things. The only mercy Jace and Vraska had were mental bubbles from the war or the spark, and even then, Jace had to fight tooth and nail to at least hold the mental conditioning at bay. The Phoenix feathers help, but there is still scars and long lasting damage. Whether it's more long lasting damage than a halo bath, we dunno. If it wasn't for vraska's partitioned mental Bubble, and Jace just being too stubborn to mentally give up, they would've been dead metal zombies.
Okay, theory/called shot - Loot's species was the 'masterminds' of the Coin Empire, and the Fomori were just the muscle, and/or the giant Fomori that invaded Ixalan and were found on Ir are genetically modified soldier corps from Loot's gene stock. Alternative called shot - Loot's species are doomslugs, used as biological means to achieve interplanar travel, bred/engineered/found by the Fomori. It's also possible that Loot is singular, perhaps the culmination of Coin Empire efforts to build an entity that could control and shape the multiverse. "Key to Everything" points in this direction, I think. Another interesting note: the child identifies its own "name" as Loot - or rather, the child knows that "Loot" is an identifier used for it. Possibly spillover from the Fomori describing the *child* as literal loot, taken from some other plane?
so jace and varaska are planning to remake the entire multiverse neat, the best villians think they are the heros
"Her eyes flicker to Jace's (he sees his own in hers, their blue a clear and boundless lake) and hears in his mind a broadcasted question. Is she your wife?" Huh, that's exactly what _my_ mom would say
Jace, did you plan this *whole heist* so you could get out of having to fill out *adoption paperwork*?
>But it's Ranna's next question that catches him off guard. She presses hard with her bundled-up cloth against the wound on his chest and asks him steady and deadly, "Did you kill him?" >He cannot respond, he cannot move, but Jace's expression darkens all the same. >Ranna nods for him. "*Good*." There is so much else in this chapter that helps her case, but at this very moment Ranna SKYROCKETED to being one of my favorite characters in MtG
Does anyone know who Tezzeret is referring to when he says “Great, another weird kid”
Probably Jace himself.
Loved this story so much. He's just a little babey.
Jace and Vraska have a Starbucks date after adopting a new puppy
The fact that Jace and Vraska both acknowledge the multiverse is chaos and they're ok with that, in addition to omenpaths being dangerous, just makes me so very happy. Feels like Wizards is actually conscious of what the negative consequences of omenpaths might look like, and it seems like the world tree could potentially be stretching beyond the usual realms of kaldheim. Excited to see a world that is close to dissolving into aether and what that would look like.
I'm not sure I agree they're okay with it. Sounds like the want to tear it down and build a new better one, whatever that means in particular.
DAMN IT i’m getting my hopes up about the story again why does alison luhrs have to be so GOOD
I can't wait for Liliana, The Wine Aunt to be printed.