Thread by @jay13x

Okay, since it's basically impossible to avoid #Spoilers at this point, I'm just gonna post the thread. Full article about this soon!

Let's talk about the reveal in Episode 6: Last to Leave by @ArsenaultRivera #vorthos #mtgmom

magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-…

When we last saw Elspeth Tirel, it appeared that she was going to die (again), consumed in the exploding Sylex.

When we catch up with her, she's in a metaphysical state being guided through her life, and mortal attachments, by an unknown figure.

This figure appears in the form of herself as a child, as her mother, and as her former love Daxos, before revealing her true form: Serra.

Or, at least, an echo of Serra. The real Serra died centuries ago.

When the real Serra died, she left an enchantment on Dominaria, in Sursi, that has protected it since AND has also spawned new angels ever since.

Serra's legacy is vast. For millennia, she ruled Serra's Realm, a literal heaven she had created. Her angels were known on several planes, and her influence was probably wider than we suspect.

The bad part comes, as it usually does, with the introduction of Urza. Urza takes refuge on Serra's Realm, which brings it to Phyrexia's attention. Serra ends up abandoning the plane because of Phyrexia's influence.

Urza returns, centuries later, as the plane is near-collapse from Serra no longer being around to regulate the mana, and Phyrexia throwing the mana balance out of whack.

He rescues the survivors and brings them to Dominaria. Then collapses the plane into a powerstone.

This powerstone is used to power his grandest invention. The centerpiece of his legacy: the Skyship Weatherlight.

When Jhoira rebuilds the Weatherlight, she's given the Serra's Realm powerstone in trust. When the Weatherlight falls to Phyrexian corruption, the crew saves the powerstone.

That happens in this story: Shards of Nightmare

magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-…

The powerstone eventually makes its way to Teferi, where it's used to power the Temporal Anchor

I'll be honest, I was surprised. Everyone was so focused on the Sylex, no one was paying attention to the powerstone that was also part of several stories and the centerpiece of a promo video.

magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-…

The powerstone implodes, overloading the Temporal Anchor and sending Teferi somewhere he could not reach on his own.

Huh.

Weird.

magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-…

Then, a short time later, this happens. Elspeth is seemingly killed again.

There's a few important details worth mentioning at this moment.

Serra did not create her angels from nothing. From the very beginning (or at least, from Homelands in 1996), it's established that Serra made her angels from the souls of fallen warriors.

There's a reminder in the BRO flavor text.

The same thing is true of the angels of Bant, they're born of an enchantment that creates angels from the souls of dead heroes.

Of course, we already know that Capennan Angels seem to be born of mortals, too.

Some people guessed where things were heading from here!

So Elspeth Tirel seemingly dies again. She's a native Capennan. Spent most of her life suffused with the power of Bant. And is also tied to Dominaria (which is how Koth finds and enlists her to fight New Phyrexia in the first place).

And this time, her soul isn't 'captured' by the Theran Underworld.

What happens?

Was she already an angel, and just needed the stimuli to ascend? Did an echo of Serra's power reach out to her, and transform her? Was she bathed in Bantian enchantments for so long that she rose as great heroes do?

Maybe some combination of the above? Or something entirely new?

In any case, guided by the echo of Serra, a goddess once known to the Capennans, or at least Elspeth's family, whose name was forbidden in the Phyrexian dungeon in which she was spent her earliest years, Elspeth ascends.

Her fight is not yet done.

In terms of real-world history, we've seen hints of this from the very beginning, her first appearance in the web comic Honor Bound (from 2009) hints at what might be to come.

https://twitter.com/jay13x/status/1638990593551663105?s=20

Elspeth also hails from a time when it wasn't clear how long ago the Mending was. If you've ever heard that Elspeth is a pre-mending planeswalker, or wondered why Venser still looks so young in scars, it's likely due to that fact.

We actually didn't get clarity for how long ago the Mending was in-universe until the Bolas arc was developing.

I think, like a lot of things in Magic, it should be recognized that creative teams often leave seeds, hoping to follow-up on them later. It happens all the time, and many of our more recent story arcs (the Bolas arc, for instance) are built upon these seeds.

When executed well (which I think this was), you get a fantastic story arc with a satisfying pay off. It doesn't always happen! But man, when it lands, it lands.

Anyway, these last few posts were to bump up the spoilers so the first and last threads wouldn't accidentally do it.

I wrote a complete Serra history here:

coolstuffinc.com/a/jayannelli-0…

Also, Episode 3 mentions some of Tamiyo's Iron Bound Scrolls...

magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-…

Does anyone remember what the first one we learned about was about?

(This has nothing to do with the Eldrazi, just neat that Tamiyo had stories of the whole previous Phyrexian saga)

The FAQ Thread:
- Serra is not Elspeth's mom
- Capenna is not Ulgrotha
- Shadowspear is just gone, okay?!? I don't know why she can't hold on to a weapon anymore either.

- Traditional angels can't be planeswalkers because they're artificial 'created' beings. They're basically elementals. (1/3 for this response)

Serran, Bantian, and Capennan angels all have souls from living beings, and the spark is a part of the soul, so in my opinion they could be, although it would be exceedingly rare. More rare than a regular planeswalker, because they'd have to die in the right conditions.

And their soul would have be preserved enough.

Plus, the lore around it is very obscure. A panel from an Out-of-Print comic from 1996 (Homelands), or a paragraph from an out-of-print book bundled with Fat Packs (Planeswalker's Guide to Alara). (3/3)

- We don't know the whole metaphysical deal about Capenna's angels. Giada appeared human, and was young, younger than any of the other angels we've seen there, implying that there's a time they're at least indistinguishable from humans. (1/2)

If Elspeth is a similar case, we've seen her grow up from a childhood, and she had a mother. So we likely won't know more about the metaphysics until a later date. (2/2)

- Okay, seeing this around a lot, and Elspeth is not secretly from some other. It's just some poetic language. She's from New Capenna (the plane).

- And she's a New Capennan Angel. Sort-of. She has the wings of light they do, but in a different design or style. She's something more than they are now. I was being cute with the 'questions' earlier.

- We've been hinting at this for a year now, first in New Capenna, where Elspeth realizes she has the same glow as the angels. She can hear the same song Giada does, too.

magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-…

And of course, Wrenn takes note of her dual nature during the Brothers War story.

magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-…

There's certainly a balance that had to be walked between hinting at whats coming and not tipping our hand too much to the reveal. Yesterday's reaction was awesome overall, so I think the stories hit the right balance?