MS: Sabatoge
Lore forum
Posted on Jan. 31, 2018, 11 a.m. by AgentGreen
In today's penultimate epsiode; Jace and Vraska; two planeswalkers who've been around for a bit, will try to succeed at something that Gods and ancient planeswalkers failed to do
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/sabotage-2018-01-31
AgentGreen says... #3
RicketyEng Now this brings an interesting question.
Why would Bolas invade Ravnica and not Dominaria? Dominaria sits at the Nexus of the Multiverse, all the leylines and Planeswalkers has some connection to Dominaria. So what makes Ravnica so important?
Also; who are Jace's friends waiting for him on Dominaria? Was the contingency plan to planeswalk to Dominaria and regroup; if the fight against Bolas went sideways?
January 31, 2018 12:16 p.m.
AgentGreen The Friends on Dominaria are probably Ajani and anyone he's managed to rustle up to help fight Bolas. At the end of the Aether revolt Story While the rest of them went straight to Amonkhet, Ajani Told them it would be a bad idea and instead went to gather allies.
I don't know why Bolas wants to hit Ravnica first though.
January 31, 2018 1:03 p.m.
RicketyEng says... #5
The meeting on Dominaria was the original plan they made with Ajani before going to Amonkhet. The Origins Five intended to go to Amonkhet to see what they could learn, fight Bolas if they found him, and then make the rendezvous with Ajani. Ajani's perspective of the plan was that they would all go their separate ways for a few weeks to gather resources and allies then meet on Dominaria to further develop a plan.
As for Ravnica vs Dominaria, the main reason for suspecting any intentions for Dominaria is because of past significance. I don't believe there has actually been any clues in the stories of recent years that suggest any nefarious plot on Dominaria. On the other hand, we have been fed so many hints followed by varying amounts of confirmation that big things are about to happen on Ravnica.
One detail conspicuously missing still is exactly what Bolas plans to do with Ravnica after invading it. Today's story finally saw the characters arrive at the conclusion that Bolas intends to use his army to invade one or more planes. It was not confirmed whether or not the Immortal Sun will be a part of that invasion, but I still believe it stands to reason that using the Immortal Sun as the cage and an invasion as bait would make for a very effective planeswalker trap.
It still remains to be seen what Bolas intends to do after the trap is sprung. A plausible twist at that point may very well be some ultimate plot involving the power of Dominaria. A plot which first needs the neutralization of as much as possible of the possible opposition. An alternative is to harvest the sparks of the trapped planeswalkers. Since that is a simpler and more direct plot I am inclined to give it a higher chance of where the story is going.
January 31, 2018 1:09 p.m.
Philigan87 says... #6
RicketyEng I agree.
It's highly likely that Jace ended up on Ixalan because that's where Bolas sent him, and that he chose Vraska because of their common connection to Ravnica.
Bolas' plan will likely depend on Jace knowing about the invasion and rounding up planeswalkers to take the bait.
Vraska was just an unwitting messenger.
As to why Ravnica is the cage I suspect it's because Heiromantic magic runs strongest in Ravnica and it will best sustain the Immortal Sun's binding ability.
Also Dominaria is essentially a dead plane so an invasion here would not coax heroes to intervene as much as a densely populated world like Ravnica.
January 31, 2018 6:15 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #7
This story revealed much about Azor and Bolas' plans, and also makes Ugin seem to be nearly as manipulative as Bolas. Ugin may not be evil like Bolas, but he certainly is a very shady character, so I hope that the heroes are very cautious if they continue to work alongside him.
RicketyEng, we still do not know the details of Ral Zarek's involvement with Bolas, so we cannot be certain if he truly is working with Bolas or if Bolas is merely using him as an unwitting pawn.
The best part of this story was the very emotional parting between Jace and Vraska; all the time that they have spent together, the relationship that they have forged, is now lost, but I do sincerely hope that they can reunite and that Jace shall restore her memories without fail.
The story has become very intense, so I am very excited to see what shall happen, next.
January 31, 2018 9:24 p.m.
RicketyEng says... #8
Philigan87, you are mistaken about who sent Jace to Ixalan - it was Ugin, not Bolas (revealed in "The Flood"). I think yours is a very good point about the strength of heiromancy on Ravnica.
DDJ, I agree completely with your assessments of Ugin and Ral Zarek.
January 31, 2018 9:39 p.m.
Let's not weep about Jace and Vraska parting ways. Jace did promise to restore her memories when the moment was right.
February 1, 2018 8:23 a.m.
Philigan87 says... #10
RicketyEng Oh yeah Id completely forgotten about that.
I wonder what Ugin was ecpecting Jace to accomplish on Ixalan.
Any version of the plan that would see Ugin foiled would also see Jace Trapped, unless theres a way to destroy the I.Sun.
February 2, 2018 2:57 a.m.
Philigan87 I actually think the reason Ugin had the eject button placed in Jace's mind was specifically so that Bolas doesn't realize Ugin is alive. I think Ugin's sole purpose of choosing Ixalan is because it's a place that Bolas wouldn't willingly go to, so Jace and his knowledge of Ugin are safe.
February 2, 2018 6:48 a.m.
Philigan87 says... #12
Nemesis That's a pretty smart deduction. Also we know Ugin isn't exactly Jace's biggest fan, so it makes sense for him to pull a dick-move like that.
I do hope this means we'll see a surprise intervention by Ugin on Ravnica, since it would seem to be the big hitch in Bolas' plan.
On a sidenote: I was kind of hoping to see the Nephilim re-incarnated somehow, as well, but I think that's going to be too much to ask for, lol.
February 2, 2018 10:39 a.m. Edited.
AgentGreen says... #13
Nemesis Bolas doesn't know where Jace planeswalked to when he defeated him
Is it possible that Ugin foresaw what The Gatewatch was going to do? He knew that Jace was a strong telepath; but did he see his true potential? Did he specifically send Jace to Ixalan to meet with Azor to restore his full potential and to learn of Bolas's endgame?
RicketyEng says... #2
Link
We got a couple of confirmations: Ugin was indeed Azor's co-conspirator; Bolas and Ugin's fight on Tarkir was indeed because of Ugin and Azor's plan; Ravnica is indeed Bolas's target for the end game. We also got the much needed answer of how Bolas uncovered the conspiracy against him.
Jace doesn't know that Ral Zarek is working for Bolas. If Jace makes the mistake of confiding in Ral then that could tip off Bolas that Jace knows more than he should. Hopefully he goes directly to Niv-Mizzet and the guild leaders.
The story mentioned that Ugin had secreted away a means of destroying Bolas. Does it occur to anyone else that this might be referring to the eldrazi? Could the plan have been to trap Bolas on Ixalan, then release the eldrazi from Zendikar and lure them to Ixalan? Would it then be a matter of watching them destroy Ixalan and Bolas with it? I wonder if Ugin even intended to ultimately help Azor get his spark back or if Azor would be one more casualty along with an entire plane that Ugin was willing to sacrifice to destroy Nicol Bolas.
Also interesting to note is the mention of Bolas invading many planes and twisting them to his own needs. This brings to mind the portion of Nissa's visions where she saw Amonkhet and thousands of other worlds all linked by Bolas's dark influence.
January 31, 2018 12:06 p.m.