Chapter 2: the Motives of the Wolf
Lore forum
Posted on Sept. 8, 2021, 6:45 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
This week’s story has been posted, and it was as excellent as was last week’s, and it seems that WoTC has realized that the stories of the previous several sets, most notably Kaldheim and Strixhaven, were severely rushed and disorganized, so I am very glad that they are taking the time to write better stories, this time around.
I see that Tovolar was Arlinn’s "mentor," in a certain sense, and I am certain that he shall return, later, as there is much unresolved tension, likely of more than one kind, between them. I was definitely sad that Arlinn’s pack left her to join Tovolar, but I shall hope that they shall rejoin her, eventually.
Now, we know why Teferi and the others are on Innistrad, but was this story set before or after Teferi encountered Wrenn? I also was glad that Chandra referenced the previous time that they visited the plane, since there shall be no Eldrazi in these two sets, so I am glad that WotC is at least acknowledging that Emrakul’s invasion did occur.
The flavor text of one card states that Sorin fights Sigarda, so I wonder why that shall happen, and I hope that Sigarda survives, since angels are my favorite creatures in this game.
Anybody know what happened to Ulrich? Wasn't he the "uncontested alpha " of innistrad? And arlinns man?
September 9, 2021 11:55 a.m.
RicketyEng says... #5
Liesa is the fourth sister angel of Bruna, Sigarda, and Gisela. According to this story she supposedly died about a thousand years ago. We finally got a card for her in Commander Legends, but now also a new card in present day Innistrad. So maybe she didn't die after all...
There was something about the writing style of last week's story that seemed to rub me the wrong way but I can't put my finger on what. I did like this week's story better though.
As we were getting flashbacks of Arlinn's early days as a werewolf I was increasingly worried that they would retcon her sparking event; I think they might have. This story showed us flashbacks of Arlinn as an Archmage of Goldnight who kept her lycanthropy a secret until she lost control in the heat of battle one night. She sparked when she finally realized how much extra damage she had done to her compatriots. This new story does also give us additional insights into her life pre-sparking when she tried to hide and even suppress her werewolf side. For the most part, the two accounts seem able to mesh together to paint a more complete picture of Arlinn's early days. However, the scene with Luciana coming to check on Arlinn at night - while not quite as explicitly stated as her sparking event - was written enough like a sparking event I'm afraid it could be implied well enough to call it a retcon. I hope not, but what do other folks think?
DemonDragonJ, you raise a good question about the timing of this story relative to Teferi's meeting with Wrenn. Certainly based on what we have so far, we can't yet tell which event happens first. I would speculate that if we do not actually see Wrenn in the main story or get any additional hints from Teferi then their meeting could easily happen long before or after the main events.
September 9, 2021 12:06 p.m.
plainsrunner says... #6
It kinda looks like Chandra is attracted to Adeline, given her awkward rush to introduce herself and Arlinn feeling that Chandra would help with "whatever it was Adeline asked of her". I hope this is an indication that they're going to either retcon Chandra's claims of being totally het from war of the spark, or reframe them as being the protestations of someone so far in the closet that she didn't even realize it.
September 9, 2021 10:51 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #7
plainsrunner, may I ask why it is important to you that Chandra be homosexual?
September 11, 2021 12:28 a.m.
plainsrunner says... #8
DemonDragonJ From what I've heard (I wasn't around for oath of the gatewatch's story), Chandra and Nissa were characterized as having a deep connection, especially after working together to defeat the eldrazi. This was interpreted by many in the fandom as a romantic connection, so it was disappointing when the war of the spark novel shut down those theories in what seemed like a pretty ham-fisted and unnecessary way. So having Chandra be confirmed as bi would fit with that earlier characterization.
On a less story driven note, having one of magic's star characters be queer would be good representation. Being able to see yourself in your favorite characters can be a powerful thing, especially for members of marginalized communities like the LGBTQ+ community who have traditionally not been able to see themselves represented in media.
On a more personal note, as a queer person myself, I enjoy reading stories about people like me as the heroes.
September 11, 2021 12:34 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #9
plainsrunner, that makes perfect sense, since I was pleased to learn that Narset is neurodivergent, as I have Asperger syndrome, myself.
Wendithewendigo says... #2
We know that the key is in the
WARNING READ AT YOUR OWN RISK OF SPOILERS FROM A CARDS FLAVOR TEXT
Markov family catacombs from the flavor text of Secrets of the Key
September 8, 2021 10:43 p.m.