What Shall Happen to the Completed Planeswalkers?
Lore forum
Posted on Dec. 14, 2022, 10:49 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
The Phryexians have already completed two planeswalkers, and shall be completing more, so I wonder what fate shall befall those planeswalkers.
I sincerely hope that the heroes shall not find a way to cure the planeswalkers of completion, as that would be poor storytelling; I wish to see actual consequences from this most epic and dire of storylines, so it is more likely that the uncorrupted planeswalkers shall need to kill the corrupted ones as an act of mercy, or that the corrupted planeswalkers shall need to sacrifice their own lives to prevent them from spreading their corruption any further. As long as they are not cured, I shall be pleased.
What does everyone else say about this? What ultimate fate shall befall the completed planeswalkers?
WARNING! SPOILERS FOR THE SET. Show
I wouldn't worry about some planeswalkers being all too lonely...
December 15, 2022 2:54 a.m. Edited.
Oh, and I absolutely agree that all the Compleated walkers must absolutely under no circumstance find some McGuffin "cure all" that would instantly revert them to normal. That would remove any agency from defeating the Phyrexians as they could just "cure" the infection/compleation and pretty much kill the whole story. Also, full disclosure I'm a Phyrexian fan boy. I REALLY want them to win and send all other walkers on the run across various new and old planes.
December 15, 2022 5 a.m. Edited.
TheOfficialCreator says... #5
I think Nahiri, Nissa, Jace, and Vraska will die, at the very least.
December 15, 2022 9:57 a.m.
FormOverFunction says... #6
Apologies right off the bat for my opinion... but I’d love to have all of the PWs compleated and then somehow defeated (sucked into a Cylix or something, a-la Superman IV or whatever) so that we, the players, would be the only Planeswalkers again.
December 15, 2022 10:47 a.m.
RicketyEng says... #7
Call it an unpopular opinion if you will, but I and my wife both hope that Tamiyo and Ajani can be cured. They are two of our favourites and it is absolutely heartbreaking to lose them to this fate worse than death. If the compleation can't be reversed, then I at least want to see some way that the Phyrexians get pacified so that they can find a way to coexist in the multiverse without being such a huge threat.
Given that we're getting a whole mini set to show the aftermath of the March of the Machines, I wouldn't be surprised if there is something on the scale of the Mending coming. It could be something so big that the fates of compleated planeswalkers are completely moot.
December 15, 2022 12:01 p.m.
FormOverFunction says... #8
I assume it will end up being some sort of Green Mile styled “someone pulls it all into themselves to save everyone in one giant selfless act”. Maybe Ulamog. Lol
December 15, 2022 2:21 p.m.
FormOverFunction I have a friend with an interesting theory that kinda follows that.
His point is thus: "In the middle of all the sets building up to the big Phyrexian Invasion, we had two random sets with no apparent connection to them; Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow. The big part of those sets was that Emrakul was doing something funny in the moon.
We know that the Phyrexians have something named "Realm Breaker". What if it's compleated Emrakul? Eldrazi very easily destroy planes (Battle For Zendikar), and Emrakul could twist the inhabitants of planes to match her (Shadows Over Innistrad). If they compleated Emmy, they would very easily be able to spread Phyrexia in a way no one could meaningfully stop."
Assuming it's true (which I slightly doubt but you never know), we could see most of the walkers die from this, which would be interesting.
December 15, 2022 5:24 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #10
Jace still has not returned to his home plane, as Chandra returned to hers, so how would WotC visit Vryn without him?
December 15, 2022 8:14 p.m.
DemonDragonJ The phyrexians reanimated Ertai, and apparently
someone else (spoiler) Show
So even if Jace "dies", if a little bit of Phyrexia lives on, zombie Phyrexian Jace could visit.
December 15, 2022 8:35 p.m.
ZendikariWol says... #12
Not gonna lie, I am a bitch. I'm all about narrative stakes until Ajani gets completed, the poor kitty. Can ONE good thing happen to that guy?! Anyway...
I think the more interesting question is "which of the ten planeswalkers presented will actually be compleated?" All have compleated artwork - so does Koth, and it's canon that he's going to make it. But it's also canon that five of the ten following planeswalkers aren't (consider that your spoiler warning, though this is only half a spoiler because what we know, I've already said, I'm just going to speculate on the info we've got).
The Walkers Show
December 16, 2022 1:44 a.m.
marco-piatti says... #13
Honestly i don't think jace would get the compleat treatment if thet didn't plan a to revert the process (which i agree, would be ultra lame). So in his case there would be only two options: he is either safe or he will be cured (somehow). The reasons i say this is because 1) it would be a very bold move to kill him/leave him compleated and 2) his narrative arc wouldn't make sense to end here.
Knowing the kind of narrative strategies they are going for the most popular PW that could get compleated are Vraska, Nahiri and Nissa. About the first two: they had decent amount of "screen time" to make their conversion enough impactful and at the same time they are not top tier in terms of pupularity. About Nissa i must say they are full going with the "Vivien is the new main green PW" so they don't care anymore about her. Her compleation would also have a big impact on Chandra's arc (who is a PW they still care about).
One between Kaito and the wanderer IMO could be considered only if they alreay plan to revert the process.
It's also likely that since the PW are 10, they are going for the classic "everyone loses someone who cares/is related to". Meaning one out of Jace/Vraska and one out of Kaito/the wanderer. Nahiri/Nissa could be in their mind probably mutally esclusive by being both from zendikar.
The safe picks to be compleated in the end are IMO: Vraska, Nissa, Kaito, Lukka, Tyvar.
December 16, 2022 8:26 a.m.
I fully expect Chandra will have to kill Nissa - that is the exact kind of cliché story moment Wizards likes and they have been stressing the two’s relationship and longing for one another in a few recent stories (though that was also to make up for the retcon disaster in the War of the Spark books). I fully expect this to be an emotionally traumatic moment that Wizards’ writers poorly execute given how absolutely boring every single depiction of Nissa in the lore has been.
I also expect we will see something with Kaito and the Wanderer, and at least one of them being compleated. I also expect this to be poorly executed, given the fact the Wanderer was incredibly mishandled but Wizards’ writing staff. Personally, I would probably have the Wanderer be compleated (a decision I would not have made before they took all semblance of mystery from her effectively immediately) and Kaito volunteering for compleation so he could continue to follow her. I would not be surprised if Wizards has one kill the other - I expect they might have the compleated one kill the non-compleated one, since that’s another cliché.
My long-shot hope is for Jace to be compleated and, the second he realises he is a sleeper agent, defer to his modus operandi of deleting his own memory, so he forgets he is a Phyrexian. I think that could add some levity and, if handled well, an amusing self-burn at Wizards for how they have handled Jace historically.
December 16, 2022 9:58 a.m.
I expected at least one Planeswalker to die in Hour of Devastation. The Gatwatch's "crushing defeat" ended mostly in temporary inconvenience, with no deaths.
In War of the Spark, Domri, Gideon, Dack Fayden, and Khazi are the named planeswalkers who died. Of those, Domri and Dack were relatively minor characters in the larger story, Khazi seems to exist just to die, and Gideon made the Heroic Sacrifice (tm) after completing his story arc.
To the best of my knowledge and memory, no named Planeswalker has been killed or corrupted by the Eldrazi, and definitely no major named planeswalker.
While one of the gimmicks of the glistening oil is that it can hitch a ride to other planes without being noticed, I suspect it's not going to travel very far, and certainly not be a threat to the entire multiverse.
As a passing thought, Garruk's been out of the story for a couple of years, he's always looking for a good hunt, and he's an experienced planeswalker hunter. My money's on him getting at least one major kill in the next year.
December 16, 2022 11:51 a.m.
TheoryCrafter says... #16
Prepare for an Ambush early to mid in the first chapter. That would explain why so many get compleated.
I'm certain of Vraska because because of an MTG visual guide that WOTC recently released. Pretty sure of Nahiri because of the idea of a Geomancer/Lithomancer smackdown can't be ignored. With Ikoria 2 coming up I'm wagering Lukka is safe, but if any of the compleated planeswalkers end up with a Seven of Nine style story arc after March of the Machines, it would be him.
Jace is my favorite planeswalker and I hope he doesn't get compleated. He still has too many unfinished stories. If he does then I hope the card shows elements of the telekinesis he has, but rarely touched upon.
While Nissa is a popular option for compleation her appearance in The Brothers' War side lore makes me hesitate. It would also make any fight with a Compleated Jace more story worthy. Either way I hope we get some Nissa/Tyvar Kell interaction before things go seriously south.
After seeing the planeswalker art MTG released and comparing it with the art of the leaked planeswalker cards I'm going to say for now the leaks are faked. The only reason I'm not fully committing to that is because it's possible the compleated art for Jace Wizards released could end up being art for another spell.
December 17, 2022 9:36 a.m.
TheoryCrafter I've heard/read the hand holding the leaks is the same hand that revealed a couple other cards (I believe Elesh Norn was one), so it's fairly likely they are real.
I agree the art is weird though
December 17, 2022 2:44 p.m.
The drama of the spoiler planeswalkers being compleated is more interesting to me than their actual characters, so it's all good by me. Was never terribly interesting in them.
If Kaito or The Wanderer get compleated, though, I will not be happy. I loved their arc in Neon Dynasty.
The biggest thing I want from this set is to see a fully Phyrexian Ajani. I don't care what card it's on or what it does. I just want to see it. Ajani, Sleeper Agent isn't Phyrexian enough (I know he's a sleeper agent and had to be undercover but still!!).
TheoryCrafter When is Ikoria 2 coming up? I thought the post-war sets for next year were Eldraine and Ixalan?
December 17, 2022 7:36 p.m. Edited.
TheoryCrafter says... #19
Delphen7, I can handle Vraska. Jace and Nissa not so much.
KBK7101, you thought correctly. I mixed the two planes up. My bad.
December 17, 2022 7:50 p.m.
psionictemplar says... #20
Just to speculate off what Delphen7 was mentioning, lets suppose nahiri gets compleated and calls emrakul in somehow. Coax from the Blind Eternities again? Maybe using some sort of tech from tezzeret, idk. Then you could have infected eldrazi or possibility a multi-plane war. Or in a real bizarre plot twist, ugin and bolas have to be released to fight the phyrexians as part of an unlikely alliance. I honestly have no clue what to expect, but would not be suprised to see a new gatewatch equivalent by the time things are done.
December 17, 2022 11:02 p.m.
psionictemplar I forgot Nahiri summoned Emmy. Considering Nahiri is good with manipulating matter, she seems like someone the Phyrexians would go after (especially given Jace and Nissa who can manipulate thoughts and mana respectively).
At this point it might be forcing evidence to fit a theory, but there is an odd amount of things that points to this being true.
What happened to Bolas after War of the Spark? I thought he died
December 18, 2022 3:58 p.m.
marco-piatti says... #22
Delphen7 Bolas is in a prison in the meditation realm if i recall correctly
December 18, 2022 4:04 p.m.
Delphen7 Nicol Bolas was stripped of his Planeswalker spark and imprisoned in his Meditation Realm by Ugin. Ugin chose to act as his jailer, refusing to leave the Meditation Realm until Bolas does of old age (potentially thousands of years).
December 18, 2022 4:06 p.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #25
Oh, I forget where exactly I heard it, but apparently the Phyresis process can actually be reversed. This is why Karn was able to be returned to his normal state. However, this can only be done if the Glistening Oil / Phyresis has not fully corrupted their heart. The mind is one of the first parts to go in terms of sanity, and one of the last to fully become enveloped in terms of compleation. However the heart itself is the final piece. Once this goes, they are fully compleated.
As long as the heart has not turned, they "can" be saved.
(Also fun tidbit, Tezzeret is immune to Phyresis)
December 18, 2022 9:28 p.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #26
Additionally, legendofa, Ugin and Jace worked together to actually wipe the memory of Bolas from existence. Except for these two, nobody actually knows Bolas ever existed. You may find occasional clues, such as on Amonkhet or Ravnica, but you won't know who he was or what he did.
(At least, that's what I heard in a YouTube channel that covered the events of that story arc)
December 18, 2022 9:29 p.m.
TheoryCrafter says... #27
TypicalTimmy, it's from the Mirrodin Besieged block. Melira, Sylvok Outcast has the ability to remove Glistening Oil from the infected. As you said, if it fully corrupts the heart its incurable. Venser, the Sojourner was suffering from Phthisis(powerstone radiation poisoning) and knew he didn't have much longer to live. So he gave his spark to Karn and the spark flushed the oil from his body. That's how Karn Liberated was cured.
As for Nicol Bolas, his memory isn't erased. Jace Beleren created an illusion where he showed Nicol exploding and then Ugin, the Spirit Dragon just took his name in such a way he cannot be summoned. Thus, his home is now a Prison Realm.
December 18, 2022 10:46 p.m.
I was thinking about what would need to happen in the story to convince me that any plot armor has been removed and that the characters can be threatened with permanent consequences. Right now, my answer is that a major character, such as Jace or Teferi, must die and their body be destroyed.
If a character is compleated, there is still a possibility that somehow, they will be saved by some as-yet-unknown cure or gimmick. Also, one of the main sources of body horror for Phyrexian is that organisms that don't get compleated get processed into their component parts--see Dismember for this in action.
If Jace, Teferi, or another "protagonist" character has their body destroyed, there shouldn't be any coming back. That would convince me that the stakes are real. This would of course be a major and horrifying moment in and out of story, but the Phyrexians are supposed to be a major and horrifying threat. If they are unable to bring about the actual death of a planeswalker on their home ground after getting Ajani and Tamiyo on their side, I won't be able to believe the story can handle them as the apocalyptic threat they're supposed to be.
Abaques says... #2
I'm with you. I think the story telling will be much better if they aren't cured. I could see a couple being kept in a prison or something because Jace can't bear to kill Vraska or something like that, but if the writers are good that hope will be extinguished. Tragedy tends to make for better stories.
All that being said, I'm gonna guess that we'll see a couple of planeswalkers sacrificed, but some other ones will be cured. There is way too much Avengers in the story for me to trust them to do anything original or daring at this point.
December 15, 2022 1:01 a.m.