Zendikar Rising Lore and Story

[5colorsrainbow]

Well not much info but we learned today (and earlier);

-This will be close in feel to Zendikar 1, an adventure/land matters world

-The 3 walkers will be Jace, Nissa and Nahiri

-Omnath gets W

-No eldrazi! BUT we will still see the after effects of them having been on the world.

Trailer:


We will be getting 9 stories, 5 focusing on the main story line on Wednesdays and 4 "others" on Fridays.

[Krishnath]

Wild Speculation about the story: It's about Nahiri coming to terms with the fact that the Eldrazi were defeated before they could consume Zendikar, and she almost committed Planarcide against Innistrad. Jace is there to explain how they defeated the Eldrazi on Zendikar, and Nissa will tell Nahiri about her efforts to revitalize both Zendikar and Amonkhet.

I fully expect a cameo by at least Kiora and possibly Chandra, although they won't get planeswalker cards, they will be mentioned in flavor text, and shown in art.

[The N82O Molecule]

ooo ooo I want to play also

turns out the Eldrazi were not the reason for the roil, Nahiri wants to use the hedrons to calm the plane this obviously angers Nissa. Jace, now half pirate is there for the sweet sweet booty.

Jace is there to mend broken fences with Nissa, Nahiri is there to obtain a weapon via the hedrons, turns out its a worldslayer sword that wants the soul of zendikar (like sword in the stone except when the sword is taken out the stone dies), Nissa gets mad, Jace feeling young and new, sees no reason not to engage Nahiri especially after Innastrad.

Nissa, found flash dancing her rage away deep in the Zendikar forest parties hard with Avenger of Zendikar and Omnath, Locus of the Roil , Jace is there on the tail of Nahiri. Nahiri is actually a spy and is there seeking specific microfiche (a hedron) because she is just not done with Sorin and any other of the sort.

turns out the roil is worse than before and is a real problem to live with, turns out zendikar is full on battle of established tribes vs elemental roil. the inhabitants want the spoils while zendikar is going through. . .a phase. . .turns out so is Nissa. . .OMG, Nissa and her emotional leyline attachment with zendikar means her inner emotional self is the roil. without understanding this connection its a mess. Jace is there because Kiora is not and they already have a green walker. Nahiri is there creating a sweet sweet set of equipments cause she got big plans.

I shan't be the second to note that a Chandra mention would really close some doors.

(thumbs up emoji)

[The Fluff]

is this where they finally clean out all the remaining eldrazi from zendikar?

[Krishnath]

is this where they finally clean out all the remaining eldrazi from zendikar?

Well, there aren't any Eldrazi in the set, so.... unlikely?

[The Fluff]

ah, already announced no eldrazi? A bit sad to hear that.

I thought flavor text on a version of Ulamog's Crusher suggests there are still a few left.

[Krishnath]

ah, already announced no eldrazi? A bit sad to hear that.

I thought flavor text on a version of Ulamog's Crusher suggests there are still a few left.

There may be a few left, but there are no Eldrazi in the set.

[5colorsrainbow]

Best new we are returning back to web fiction!

Edit: first story up tomorrow, we will see stories on friday as well that will be more focused on not the main story!

[Krishnath]

Looks like Nahiri has gone completely of the deep end. She appears to be trying to neuter Zendikar. I am pretty sure that this is going to piss off Nissa.

[5colorsrainbow]

Looks like Nahiri has gone completely of the deep end. She appears to be trying to neuter Zendikar. I am pretty sure that this is going to piss off Nissa.

She is very much the old walker who will cut out her best friends heart if it means it will be for "the greater good" of whatever they think is good.

[Krishnath]

Looks like Nahiri has gone completely of the deep end. She appears to be trying to neuter Zendikar. I am pretty sure that this is going to piss off Nissa.

She is very much the old walker who will cut out her best friends heart if it means it will be for "the greater good" of whatever they think is good.

Yeah, that and spending a few years in the helvault while thinking that the Eldrazi had eaten Zendikar.

[benjameenbear]

Does it matter? Wizards is happy to wave their hand and deus ex machina plot holes, overcome insurmountable odds, and solve character development so stuff can happen (I'm still fuming over the atrocity that is the War of the Spark plot line!!!!!).

For what it's worth, I think that Jace is trying to mend things with Nissa because Gatewatch (bleh...). Nahiri is still pissy about Sorin, especially since he/Bolas was able to magically extricate himself from his non-escapable stone prison on Innistrad (Like, what in the blue f&*%k Wizards???) so she's going to Innistrad to get a super-sword that has the potential to erase Planeswalkers by severing their spark somehow (an after effect of the Eldrazi warping the mana of the plane). Nissa is still upset for the relationship with Chandra that was waved away during the WAR plot line and she somehow is making the Roil worse as she's "healing" Zendikar. Omnath starts om-nomming the plane as the physical representation of the Roil getting worse.

By the way, I wonder if there'll be an alternate dimension leftover from when Kozilek was, y'know, completely warping the plane? Doubt it. WOTC will just wave that away somehow? That would certainly make for an interesting adventure aspect. And I highly doubt that Ob Nixilis, one of the most bad-ass villains, would come to Zendikar.

I never thought I'd say it, but I'm a severely disenfranchised Vorthos geek for this game and frankly couldn't care less about the story. Tezzeret and Sorin are the only vaguely interesting villains I'd care to follow at this point. Unless we go to New Phyrexia...

[5colorsrainbow]

I never thought I'd say it, but I'm a severely disenfranchised Vorthos geek for this game and frankly couldn't care less about the story. Tezzeret and Sorin are the only vaguely interesting villains I'd care to follow at this point. Unless we go to New Phyrexia...

Then maybe don't read it or post here until we get to a plot line you enjoy?

EDIT 2: We will be getting 9 stories, 5 focusing on the main story line on Wednesdays and 4 "others" on Fridays.

EDIT: trailers up:

[Krishnath]

Does it matter? Wizards is happy to wave their hand and deus ex machina plot holes, overcome insurmountable odds, and solve character development so stuff can happen (I'm still fuming over the atrocity that is the War of the Spark plot line!!!!!).

For what it's worth, I think that Jace is trying to mend things with Nissa because Gatewatch (bleh...). Nahiri is still pissy about Sorin, especially since he/Bolas was able to magically extricate himself from his non-escapable stone prison on Innistrad (Like, what in the blue f&*%k Wizards???) so she's going to Innistrad to get a super-sword that has the potential to erase Planeswalkers by severing their spark somehow (an after effect of the Eldrazi warping the mana of the plane). Nissa is still upset for the relationship with Chandra that was waved away during the WAR plot line and she somehow is making the Roil worse as she's "healing" Zendikar. Omnath starts om-nomming the plane as the physical representation of the Roil getting worse.

By the way, I wonder if there'll be an alternate dimension leftover from when Kozilek was, y'know, completely warping the plane? Doubt it. WOTC will just wave that away somehow? That would certainly make for an interesting adventure aspect. And I highly doubt that Ob Nixilis, one of the most bad-ass villains, would come to Zendikar.

I never thought I'd say it, but I'm a severely disenfranchised Vorthos geek for this game and frankly couldn't care less about the story. Tezzeret and Sorin are the only vaguely interesting villains I'd care to follow at this point. Unless we go to New Phyrexia...

There is an article on the mothership (Here), that tells us what has been going on since our last visit, combining this with the trailer clearly showing that Nahiri has gone completely of the deep end and wanting to neuter Zendikar, it is pretty clear to see that she is the villain of the set. Her wanting to neuter Zendikar will of course make Nissa very angry with the Kor stoneshaper, as Nissa is friends with Zendikar's worldsoul. Jace is just there, because of course he is, he'll probably try to mediate between the the two female walkers, and as usual make things worse when he meddles.

As for WAR, yeah, a lot of people were upset about that story, particularly how, as you mentioned, they handled Nissa x Chandra. Not to mention them just killing off Dack Fayden off screen, for no %$#%$#% reason. The only good thing in the entire story was that Niv-Mizzet outsmarted Nicol Bolas and got resurrected as the new Living Guildpact, well that and Gideon getting a heroic death (I half expect him to take Heliod's place as the white god the next time we visit Theros.)

[BeneTleilax]

Is there a reason the angels have their halos over their eyes again? In original Zendikar, it was a nice bit of visual storytelling about how they were blind to the Eldrazi. The creative team's tendency to "wow cool future" their own settings continues to annoy me.

[5colorsrainbow]

Is there a reason the angels have their halos over their eyes again? In original Zendikar, it was a nice bit of visual storytelling about how they were blind to the Eldrazi. The creative team's tendency to "wow cool future" their own settings continues to annoy me.

I believe that is still the case. On a meta level they likely also kept it so it gives the Zendikar angels something to show they are zendikari.

[Krishnath]

Is there a reason the angels have their halos over their eyes again? In original Zendikar, it was a nice bit of visual storytelling about how they were blind to the Eldrazi. The creative team's tendency to "wow cool future" their own settings continues to annoy me.

I believe that is still the case. On a meta level they likely also kept it so it gives the Zendikar angels something to show they are zendikari.

Fun fact, one angel on Zendikar lacks a Halo. Linvala is haloless. On the other hand, one human on Zendikar has a halo, Tazri. We do not know if that is connected.

[BeneTleilax]

I believe that is still the case. On a meta level they likely also kept it so it gives the Zendikar angels something to show they are zendikari.

Fun fact, one angel on Zendikar lacks a Halo. Linvala is haloless. On the other hand, one human on Zendikar has a halo, Tazri. We do not know if that is connected.

Linvala is not the only haloless angel on Zendikar, she shares that with Deathless Angel, a junk rare I am not surprised you forgot. They are the only two angels in Rise, and the background of other art shows that the rest of the angels have lost their blinding halos as well. It's not obvious, the story doesn't demand that you take note of it, but it's an elegant symbol of the angels at last truly seeing the "gods" which they served. This played into Rise's overall theme of terrifying revelation; something that the audience had taken for granted as a natural part of the world was in fact a scar left upon it by the ancient horrors held within.

I am somewhat saddened by Creative's failure to bring this sort of subtlety to current sets (compare how they rubbed the "hidden" Eldrazi in our faces during Eldritch Moon, or Bolas's plan in Amonkhet). This though, just feels like disrespect towards the world they are working with. Someone spent time creating that little symbol in the blinding halos, and Creative didn't bother to ask, or even give it a second thought before making a hash of it. Maybe I'm wrong, and they do have an answer for it, but it would be far from the first case of such carelessness.

Yes, this is a small thing, but it is one of many, accruing small things. Every time current Magic comes back to its worlds, worlds crafted under other, more thoughtful writers, some of these small things get stepped on. The big decisions, such as Nissa's retcon, receive criticism, but they were at least choices with conscious rationale. Right now, to me, Creative's greatest failing is not in the big changes they decide, but the small elements they neglect.

[Krishnath]

Ok, I misspoke, the article on the mothership that tells us what's been going on during our absence from Zendikar says that Linvala is currently the only haloless angel. Apparently the halos are from prior to the Eldrazi's imprisonment, and may (or may not) have something to do with the skyclaves, and there are still the mystery of Tazri's halo.

[BeneTleilax]

At least they bothered with a retcon, https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/a ... 2010-04-13 is the original rationale for the halos.

The angels of Zendikar bear a harsh, bizarre reminder of their early opposition to the Eldrazi. Each angel's halo is worn down over her eyes, symbolizing her mystical blindness to the Eldrazi's atrocities and her powerlessness to aid her world. The halo stings when worn this way, letting the angel see only stark, glaring whiteness and barring her from coming to the aid of the Eldrazi's hapless victims. Ultimately the halo serves as a shameful kind of leash, shackling her to acquiescence, preventing her from interfering with the destructive progress of the Eldrazi.

The symbolism of the halos was not lost on those who looked up at them, but their meaning was misinterpreted. The denizens of Zendikar beheld the angels and saw justice in their haloed indifference, mistaking the halos for signs of equity and impartiality. Over time the angels' forced aloofness was even incorporated into the world's religions. The "deity" Emeria, for example, was conceptualized as a great angelic being, an impartial refuge in a dangerous world—her halo a sign of hope, not of separation.

[Krishnath]

One does not preclude the other. The Kor empire was either just prior to, or just after the Eldrazi's original invasion of the plane, either is likely considering Nahiri's familiarity with the dodecahedron artifact.

[5colorsrainbow]

Good morning everyone and it feels nice to say it looks like "vorthos book club" is back. The author for today and the arc maybe? is A. T. Greenblatt;
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/a ... 2020-09-02

My thoughts (and not a full summary and spoilers):

-Nahiri is really giving off old walker energy and as I believe she has only been out of the helvault for a year or two makes sense she still has that mind set.

-So we have our War of the Spark and SoI nod showing Nissa and Nahiri know each other. And it seems Nahiri knew Nissa set them free from the plane.

-That all said I do like the bond of home Nissa and Nahiri share, I don't think we got that much with Kiora and Nissa and it nice as all these walkers did care about Zendikar and tried to stop the eldrazi.

-I was waiting to bring it up some up it touched in the story the roil is still around despite the eldrazi being gone and this is what is driving Nahiri to action.

-I see the red in Nahiri a lot with her guilt and pride leading her to act out in more emotional state and might be a side effect of the helvault trauma.

-Hmmph so whats the truth Nissa did you like Chandra?

- I already see the "friendship" and the conflict with Nissa "voice of the soul of zendikar" and Nahiri "protector of Zendikar" and love it. This the kinda interaction I wanted from these characters.

-So we have Nissa going to Jace for help and thats how he ends up on the plane. We do know that Nissa did end up leaving again for sure at the end of Forsaken.

-So Nissa is acting like Gideon and thus add B?

Overall it was soild, a bit too much characters talking over each other but I do feel like the path each character is going seem to be in character for what we know of them and recent story evens.

[5colorsrainbow]

We know how Tazri hot her halo, she mercy killed an angel and it is a reminder of that (and the curse she gain for doing so).

[Mapccu]

I believe that is still the case. On a meta level they likely also kept it so it gives the Zendikar angels something to show they are zendikari.

Fun fact, one angel on Zendikar lacks a Halo. Linvala is haloless. On the other hand, one human on Zendikar has a halo, Tazri. We do not know if that is connected.

Linvala is not the only haloless angel on Zendikar, she shares that with Deathless Angel, a junk rare I am not surprised you forgot. They are the only two angels in Rise, and the background of other art shows that the rest of the angels have lost their blinding halos as well. It's not obvious, the story doesn't demand that you take note of it, but it's an elegant symbol of the angels at last truly seeing the "gods" which they served. This played into Rise's overall theme of terrifying revelation; something that the audience had taken for granted as a natural part of the world was in fact a scar left upon it by the ancient horrors held within.

I am somewhat saddened by Creative's failure to bring this sort of subtlety to current sets (compare how they rubbed the "hidden" Eldrazi in our faces during Eldritch Moon, or Bolas's plan in Amonkhet). This though, just feels like disrespect towards the world they are working with. Someone spent time creating that little symbol in the blinding halos, and Creative didn't bother to ask, or even give it a second thought before making a hash of it. Maybe I'm wrong, and they do have an answer for it, but it would be far from the first case of such carelessness.

Yes, this is a small thing, but it is one of many, accruing small things. Every time current Magic comes back to its worlds, worlds crafted under other, more thoughtful writers, some of these small things get stepped on. The big decisions, such as Nissa's retcon, receive criticism, but they were at least choices with conscious rationale. Right now, to me, Creative's greatest failing is not in the big changes they decide, but the small elements they neglect.

Haven't read the story yet so will withhold comments on that.

I wanted to throw my hat in the ring because your comment really resonated with what a lot of my distaste for the current creative has done. All this effort goes into world building, and while I understand there is limited space and current social implications in different source material from the real world, they can do better of carrying detail forward.

It could be a simple as distributing a list for each plane, race/Subrace, geographic locations on the plane, etc to carry this stuff forward. I would be shocked if they have a master angel file that describes what they are, and how they differ from plane to plane. Even a word file would suffice.

Again, not specific to this story because I haven't read. Just something that's becoming increasingly frustrating year after year. It still doesn't feel like it's better. I don't think a fluid story is that demanding.

[Krishnath]

It could be a simple as distributing a list for each plane, race/Subrace, geographic locations on the plane, etc to carry this stuff forward. I would be shocked if they have a master angel file that describes what they are, and how they differ from plane to plane. Even a word file would suffice.

Well, we do know a little when it comes to angels, most of the Angels in Dominaria for example are associated with the Church of Serra, and pop into existence by unknown means, but we do know they are mana constructs, living beings comprised of pure mana.

On Innistrad, the Angels are similar, but were originally created by Sorin Markov to act as shepherds for the humans so they weren't rendered extinct from predation by Vampires and other high level predators on the plane. Only one of the archangels are left now however.

It is likely the same for other planes, Angels (and Demons) are manifestations of the local mana, condensing into living creatures. It is possible, however, that the angels of Zendikar were either created by, or enslaved by, the Kor Empire.