http://sarpadianempiresvol-viii.tumblr. ... iri-was-an

The thing is, Maro deleted the post, so it's unclear if it was in jest, irritation or official.

Wow, I was just about to post that Blogatog response and discuss it when your thread popped up.

Anyway, yeah, the long-expected continuity screwup is confirmed. There goes my last shred of hope of Creative keeping the continuity straight for at least one block... I guess it's not devastating because the only source it contradicts is Teeth of Akoum and they already retconned so many holes into that book that it looked like Swiss cheese even before that, and it's not among the most popular Magic novels anyway. Still, people have been speculating about Nahiri's fate and identity for years based on what evidence there was, and just removing part of that evidence (in a block all about collecting clues and solving mysteries, I might add) is weak sauce. Unless Nahiri was somehow trapped in the Helvault without Sorin knowing about it and that's why he was surprised she didn't show up, but I don't think anyone would bet money on that. It also raises the question where she was in the previous block.

In the Teeth of Akoum was already falling apart soon after release, though. Most notably, the Savor the Flavor column was the first resource to decanonize details of the novel stating that Sorin was present for the initial sealing of the Eldrazi. It was a good story, but really has been stripped to the bone in terms of what happened. Most of the in-story lore that was known, unknown, or speculated by main characters has been redefined to make sense in the current canon (ex: Tal Terig) while appearing as somewhat forgivable misinterpretations in the novel itself.

As for Nahiri being stuck in the Helvault, I'm happy with it. I'm also assuming it is official as there were spoiler warnings and no followup questions answered that would indicate it was a poorly conveyed joke or anything other than a real story detail. Sure, it's not the neatest since there are no connections to Avacyn Restored, but that's chalked up to a different era with a different story plan.

What I'm more curious about is the fact that her spark was able to survive oblivion in a moon rock prison. Sure, loyalty counters always come back when a Planeswalker card returns from exile to the battlefield, but it's neat to see this case in the story.

I kind of figured it was going to happen when Avacyn and Sorin were fighting Nahiri next to the helvault.

Kind of tired of MaRo talking for all of Wizards on matters that aren't his business though.

I think we all saw it coming, and I'd say it might even be the...least bad option at this point. At least it explains how she survived the Mending, and I admit that's more important than being consistent with a heavily compromised novel. It does support the claims I made a while ago about the continuity looking like Swiss cheese and that the entire Eldrazi arc was a mistake from the start, though.

At least there's an excuse in that the Helvault's properties seem unusual by all accounts.

I hope Eldritch Moon fleshes that out

The Helvault probably put her in stasis like it did with Avacyn. So the Mending affected her and turned her mortal but the Helvault prevented her from aging.

From my understanding the Spark and the Loyalty Counters are different. The spark is the ability to travel the planes, while the loyalty counters are just how much that walker is willing to help you at that time when you call them. The loyalty counters are not suppose to represent their power, or at least their full power.


As far as how she survived I liked the theory of being turned to stone in a hibernating state.

Yeah, I've always viewed loyalty counters as how much crap a 'walker will put up with before they throw up their hands and say "I'm out." When you ask them to do comparatively easy things that they like to do, their loyalty (typically) goes up. Harder spells, or being attacked, make it go down, and eventually they decide that they don't want to die for you, and leave.

Sometimes mechanics don't line up well with flavor. Such as blinking.

I kind of wish they just retconned post-mending rapid aging. It would've been a retcon, but it would have been retconning something stupid so in the long run it would be a win.

It would invalidate crucial stuff about Bolas and arguably Liliana, though. And with all the time that has passed since the Mending, every 'walker with a human life span would be dead by now anyway. I mean, Creative wants all Oldwalkers to be dead unless specified otherwise. Besides, we've really REALLY had enough retcons.

Yes, oldwalkers dying from old age is quintesential to modern canon now.

Oh wow. I assumed that the mending wasn't that long ago. A look at the timeline indicates that Venser, who was present for the Mending and died just a few years ago lived to be 125. His walker card must have used an old photo. Huh.
All the stuff about Bolas and Liliana could work without the rapid aging. Liliana didn't need to be all withered to want her eternal youth back. Bolas' story would work better if his walkerbody just wasn't sustainable as a mortal- it would add a touch of hubris to the character and also be less dumb.
I still can't understand why they were so hellbent on killing off all the oldwalkers. I guess it goes with the in with the new mentality.

Eh, maybe his addiction to Blinkmoth Serum kept him looking more youthful than usual. Plus he technically knew two functional immortals who know how to slow the effects of aging.

I'm guessing it was for a clean break in story telling. The old heroes are dead, long live the new (marketable) heroes!

The problem is they presented one timeline and then Mirrodin came slinking out of the sewer where it died and screwed everything up. For the sole reason of putting Venser in and specifically NOT having New Phyrexia already, they made the mending like 10 years prior.

Despite Alara actively not being able to work with that number. At some point, they realized how badly they'd screwed that up and put it back the way it was, but like a bent paper clip, it was never quite right again.

Fun fact: Elspeth was originally an oldwalker. This detail never made sense, but was the creative team's head canon for a while. When other members pointed out that it didn't fit, they buried the fact they had made that declaration and the canon kept chugging along as if nothing happened because it was never official.

I thought she was still an oldwalker. Huh.

But yeah, I could see human planeswalkers living for a few hundred years even with the new sparks. Honestly, they just need to hammer down just how much extra time a walker has because of their spark.

Really, they just need to create a proper timeline and some ground rules.

Nah, they never officially created any point where Elspeth was an old walker. And she actually ascended after other characters who they didn't consider oldwaljers.

But even then, her story wouldn't work if she ever got a taste of omnipotence. It's hard to be the scared girl when you are become god.

I think it was implied with the stuff about her being tortured by Phyrexians as a little girl. Phyrexia had been destroyed, meaning she had to be really, really old to have encountered them. I didn't know that they'd dropped her being oldwalker, and not sure how they reconcile the Phyrexia thing now (or if they even do). I think there may also have been hints that Karn accidentally left oil behind on other planes besides Mirrodin?

Yeah, Phyrexia had actually colonized other worlds. Blowing up the home world was more about making sure Yawgmoth had no exit strategy.

It isn't even necessarily tied to Karn. Phyrexia was just in tons of other places. That didn't change just because they had no more home.