Did Karn Infect Any Other Planes?

Lore forum

Posted on March 11, 2019, 10:40 p.m. by DemonDragonJ

When the Scars of Mirrodin block began, after Karn realized that he had inadvertently infected Mirrodin with Phyrexian oil, he was worried that he may have infected other planes, as well, but that plot line has not yet been revisited, so I wonder if WotC has forgotten about it. Surely, they would not have introduced that idea if they were not planning to develop it further, in the future?

What does everyone else say about this? Did Karn infect any other planes, and will WotC ever revisit that plotline?

ERoss8 says... #2

I don’t know if Karn corrupted any other planes with oil. If I’m not mistaken, Mirrodin was infected because Karn created or substantially changed the plane as it was coming into being, infusing it with phyrexian oil. That said, while I don’t think Karn simply existing on a plane for a short while would substantially effect it, Karn might have done something similar to other planes, and they could suffer similar fates.

Storyline wise, I think it’s dependent on what happens in War of the Spark. Karn is confirmed to show up, and last we heard of him, he took the Golgothian Sylex to New Phyrexian to blow it to hell. I’d think that they would explore this thread if a) Karn survives the war and b) New Phyrexian is taken care of, as he knows it’s infected and feels responsible.

March 11, 2019 11:07 p.m.

Vman says... #3

OH so thats how it happened. I always thought hr just stepped on some phyrexian oil on his way back to mirrodin.

March 11, 2019 11:44 p.m.

Boza says... #4

Mirrodin was actually created by Karn - it is an artificial plane. However, he always carried a bit of phyrexian oil with him that corrupted many on Mirrodin - Glissa Sunseeker was one of the custodians of the plane, but she became Glissa, the Traitor . Memnarch was the original custodian, but the oil drove him mad.

The oil worked best on Mirrodin, because it was artificial - flesh and Phyresis do not mix well. It is entirely possible that other planes may have been infected, but the unique characteristics of Mirrodin place it the most likely for the oil to live long and prosper.^^_^^

March 12, 2019 7:09 a.m.

Icbrgr says... #5

Oooooh so maybe Kaledesh for the robo-inovation-ness? UPGRAYDD!!!

March 12, 2019 7:28 a.m.

Vman says... #6

Mannnnn i never liked kaladesh. Im a simple man. All i want in life is to have phyrexian-eldrazi vs the living plane of zendikar XD

March 12, 2019 7:36 a.m.

Gleeock says... #7

Haha, Zendikar's dainty filigree aesthetic definitely needs to be smashed by something. As stated above, for Phyrexians to take a foothold somewhere (from scratch/oil) the right condition needs to be present - a whole lot of artifice & biomechanical junk occurring already. Invasion is a different story.

March 12, 2019 9:54 p.m.

RicketyEng says... #8

I don't think Kaladesh will ever face Phyrexians. The plot of the story would be way too similar to Mirrodin for it to be a compelling story that enough people would like.

Also, where Mirrodin itself is artificial and like an artifact itself, Kaladesh is a regular, natural plane with at least one capital city in which there is a lot of artifice occurring.

March 13, 2019 12:21 p.m. Edited.

Gleeock says... #9

Oh yeah, thx!... I meant KALADESH's dainty filigree aesthetic needed to be smashed up!! I always thought that the most awesome story for some select Phyrexians would be if they were truly "greater than the sum of their parts" - like even though their history is totally steeped in Yawgmoth, genocide, parasitism, & general evilness... Some of them have become something more, & then on the flipside Karn would actually be IN THE WRONG for wanting to annihilate them with a bowl :) Maybe the red phyrexians are that way...not too sure. It would be a neat view on how out-of-touch an ancient planeswalker could be with an ages old memory of something that has long since changed.

March 13, 2019 10:13 p.m.

DwaginFodder says... #10

While I don't think Karn has spread more oil (and he almost definitely won't die in WAR - too much unfinished business), it would not surprise me whatsoever if Tezzeret has carried some oil around. The fact that he doesn't show up in WAR even though he's bound to Bolas's planar portal surpised me, and he did visit New Phyrexia to check on it under Bolas's command. He's also mechanical enough to be infected, has visited Kaladesh as the Head Judge or whatever, and now contains the technology that the New Phyrexians need to spread.

March 14, 2019 9:01 a.m.

Icbrgr says... #11

thats a really awesome theory that Tez could be a vector to spread oil DwaginFodder!

March 14, 2019 9:26 a.m. Edited.

Gleeock says... #12

Good point, Tez possesses a lot of the perfect attributes for Phyrexian spread. He has an affinity for the biomechanical, he is basically their vaunted portal that they coveted long-ago, he can just transport biomechanical (Phyrexia) to other planes.

March 14, 2019 8:19 p.m.

kanokarob says... #13

It would be interesting to see Tezzeret take on a pseudo-Yawgmoth identoty. Of course, Elesh Norn would probably set him up as the figurehead leader of New Phyrexia, rather than fully relinquishing power to him.

March 23, 2019 6:16 p.m.

J-Will says... #14

Well there’s also the fact that elspeth is from a plane dominated by phyrexians so how many worlds did yawgmoth take over before his death?

December 6, 2019 9:45 p.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #15

J-Will, given that Yawgmoth was one of the most powerful beings ever in this game, I shall presume that he infected many planes.

December 7, 2019 1:16 a.m.

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