What Happens in Wilds of Eldraine?

[@joaocisne556]

Oko being a Deadbeat dad is the funniest thing to me

[@JStack]

You can create a kid everytime you +1 him. Seems about right

[@anthonytorretti6685]

He went out to get some extraplanar cigarettes and never came back. 😔

[@bumfricker2487]

He left to get Elk

[@gaminggeckos4388]

He left to BE A COWBOY

[@sergersgerhersh6594]

That's ironically... pretty accurate.

[@Troopergreen818]

I like how the witch with no friends is azorius.

[@theatog]

[@saitamagotchi44]

Genuinely thought her and Will were going to meet and be like I like ice, ... i also like ice... we're so awkward lets get coffee later

[@joaocisne556]

@@saitamagotchi44 Hylda is Will's aunt, so they my be able to get along

[@saitamagotchi44]

@@joaocisne556 Is that right, i thought Ariette was the aunt, or are they both, i'm confused now.

[@joaocisne556]

@@saitamagotchi44 the trhee wiches, Ariette, Hylda and Agatha are the sisters of the witch who is the Kenrith twins biological mothers, Ariete herself confirmed that in lore

[@Thesaurus_Rex]

I think my biggest complaint with the story is that, despite the name of the set, the Wilds of Eldraine were given very little emphasis. We didn't really get any additional information on the nonhumans of the plane, except that Talion exists, and that there's a giants' castle in the sky. I'm not sure any elves or redcaps even appeared in the story? Really more of the Witches of Eldraine.

[@MagicArcanum]

I agree. Kellan bouncing in and out of Talion's court didn't really justify calling it "the Wilds of Eldraine" and Ashiok and Eriette were housed up in Castle Ardenvale, which was part of the Realm, not the Wilds.

[@Thoughtmage100]

Not to mention the elves of the plane apparently have a werefox issue, but you only see bits and pieces of that in card art and flavor text.

[@alexanderforbes1452]

Feels like the two sets should maybe swap names, this one focusing on a dynastic dispute makes it more Throne and the last one following the twins on a quest is more Wilds.

[@apjapki]

Isn't the point that the Realms is no more? All of Eldraine is Wilds now and its reflected in the set name similar to the "of Tarkir" sets.

[@MagicArcanum]

"The Realm" refers to the 'civilized' side of Eldraine, and is home to their five courts. Castle Ardenvale has been abandoned, but Will is using Vantress as his base. We know Lochthwain fell during the invasion, but Garenbrig and Embereth are likely fine. Even a place like Kellan's home, small as it may be, still counts as being part of the Realm, rather than the Wilds, so I don't think we can say the Realm is "no more."

[@MegaDK47]

The flavour text on the Nightmare cards imply this is what's happening in the dreams of those under the slumber, Eriette may not be aware that Ashiok is doing this or is just straight up manipulating Rowan, she is a Witch after all. I do love that the first case of an omenpath character showing up is just some rando Vedalkin and not some old established character who we'd expect to see, hopefully they keep things fresh like this for a while.

[@Gzilla313]

Lord Talion: Kill 3 witches Kellan: I shall kill one witch

[@primedialga]

kill 1 evil witch then use a magical item to find someone who can't be found because they want to be left alone, then break into that home after killing the guards, barely survive only by the grace of the home owner and then, for some reason she is like "yup, such nice folks, here some boons and legendary items" also ... shouldn't the mirror also be able to answer the question of the father?

[@aradraugfea6755]

@@primedialga In fairness, the Hylda thing is VERY, VERY Snow Queen, which you may recognize as the inspiration for Frozen. The whole THING with the original story was "Hey, you're a good kid, things will ultimately work out as long as you accept help, stick to your friends, and keep being a good kid." Hell, in both stories, it's even the boy that needs to be rescued by the girl. It's very Faerie Tale. The quests are always more about the outcome than the exact details of who does what, and "being a decent, friendly person who inspires others to assist" is totally fair game.

[@viviblue7277]

So Will is a wimp but a really good leader while Rowan is really strong but a terrible leader and they are both super overconfident probably due to previously being planeswalkers. Kellan and Ruby are cool new characters, but Kellan gets the main character slot and gets to be in stories on other planes. And to top it all off none of the conflicts get resolved.

[@jakemaxwell3810]

I find it annoying Will is titled as the Scion of Peace, despite leading the attack to kill the witches and upend the status quo to unite the land as a conqueror, while Rowan is called the Scion of War, but actually just wants to figure out magic and work to stabilize the realm, whether she rules it or not.

[@viviblue7277]

@@jakemaxwell3810 Rowan makes the classic mistake of thinking stability is prosperity. Will makes the classic mistake of thinking unity is prosperity. Both are screwing this whole thing up.

[@jakemaxwell3810]

@@viviblue7277 I like your reasoning, but it is worth noting Will had no fucking clue about anything to do with the sleep except he was going to kill the witch causing it and when his beloved sister said, "Wait, don't kill this woman! She is our aunt and actually seems to be doing something good here," Will just shrugs and continues trying to kill everyone in the castle, now including his sister rather than laying down arms to figure out wtf is going on. He also never considered the possible ramifications or functions of any of the magic and just tried to solve all his problems with sharp sticks. The anime trailer made Rowan look like the villain, but she actually wasn't on the offensive at all. Will just stormed the fucking castle without trying to talk, reason, or understand anything.

[@OriginalMrBibz]

I think the nightmares in the cards are there to show that Ashiok is manipulating Eriette to keep the curse around (flavor text on the reaper showing Neva's nightmares are related to Ashiok and not just the invasion). They are feeding on an entire plane's worth of nightmares behind Eriette's back, while whispering in her ear "See, you're in control, and those asleep are at peace, isn't that better?" Obv just speculation since Ashiok didn't get a ton of screen time.

[@primedialga]

Rowen is probably also manipulated either directly or indirectly, if we interpret the anime trailer for the set. Well, we had already a precendence with Ashiok kind of manipulating entities by showing them their fears (see the Elesh Norn side story, though i don't think the writers did much with it in the end, aside from some slight paranoia)

[@tj2themax]

I wouldn't put it past Ashiok. Since he didn't get to fully enjoy messing with the Phyrexians he must've switched plans when seeing Eldriane. But now we have two individuals to look out for, Tezzeret and Ashiok.

[@TheyCallMeDio]

Will: I am Will Kenrith. King of the Eldrainians Imodane: What are Eldrainians? Will: Well, you. You're an Eldrainian Imodane: Well I didn't vote for you

[@jakemaxwell3810]

Alternatively, Imodane: I am Queen! Will: *visible anger* Will: Proceeds to lead a military campaign to conquer the entire realm by force. Will: "I am the Scion of Peace."

[@mateocolon6863]

Now this is good lore Involving the omen paths in the story and not only connecting the first time we were here but also leaving us with a suspenseful cliffhanger

[@Thoughtmage100]

Let's just hope that when this story arc involving the omenpaths comes to a close, it's at least more satisfying than the end of March of the Machine.

[@bulkbinexplorer]

I really wanna know about the Sweettooth story with Greta. A whole town of candy monsters that are out of control sounds kinda... sweet

[@NoeticEidetics]

I second this.

[@davidbrasher3595]

Garruk's absence from the set is understandable. He escorted and protected Will and Rowen until they entered school at Strixhaven. He thought they would be safe there, and so he felt free to leave. Boy was he wrong! Strixhaven was a nest of vipers. The interplaner war criminal Liliana was one of the professors there because she lied on her application and got hired. Another interplaner war criminal, Lukka, was there doing his anarchist thing trying to overthrow the local power structure. And Extus, an angry ex-student, was coming back with his army to do sort of a school shooting thing. Garruk really flubbed up!

[@jakemaxwell3810]

Tbf what are the chances that the one random school they decide to go to out of the whole mulitverse also houses the one person Garruk is most scared of. Rotten luck, my guy.

[@CenJohan]

If Garruk stayed near the twins during their time at Strixhaven, I think Liliana's story of self reflection would have been cut short so-to-say.

[@aemperorgamedev]

Emphasis on the cut@@CenJohan

[@KnightsofGaming2016]

The anime trailer for this set was epic! Also, as someone who rarely has the time to catch up on the lore I want to thank you for the work you do.

[@reidmoore8754]

I really hope that Garruk will be in that Cowboy plain wandering around as this bounty hunter since people expect that Oko is one of the people in the spoiled picture and you always need an awesome scary bounty hunter in your western stories

[@metsrule2000]

look, im not a youtuber, but a segment called "Mustache Minute" not having a cool mustache animated based intro seems like a missed opportunity. thanks for the vid! was exactly what I've been waiting for!

[@MagicArcanum]

Yeah I try to keep the focus on the cards and the story and don't like to get carried away with animations but perhaps it is time to embrace some of KZbin culture and invest in making something reusable for that segment since it has become pretty iconic for the channel. 🤔

[@NoBudjetFilms]

Kamigawa and Eldraine are easily my two favorite planes, and to have them receive really great updates in the past couple years is awesome!

[@theEevee098]

The werefoxes were part of the color-pair stories, based on Beauty & the Beast. The fairy tale stories told through their two color pairs could be cool to piece together and make a video on!

[@theatog]

I am not a great reader. Would love to know which fairy tale per color pair story they are based on. Did all 10 color pairs get a parallel story? or just the 5 ally colors?

[@theEevee098]

@@theatog From Arena's Limited Draft Archetypes descriptions: WU "The Frost Queen" (The Snow Queen) UB "Enchanting Slumber" (Sleeping Beauty) BR "The Dark Piper" (Pied Piper) RG "Ruby & the Wolf" (Red Riding Hood) WG "Armont & the Beasts" (Beauty & the Beast) WB "Pale as Snow" (Snow White) UR "The Magician's Misstep" (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) BG "Greta, Witch Hunter" (Hansel & Gretel) WR "Brawl at the Grand Ball" (Cinderella) UG "The Kingdom of Storms" (Jack & the Beanstalk)

[@InvaderZim07]

Eldraine was my first MTG set, so I’ve got a soft spot for the lore here. It was also my introduction to Magic Arcanum! Such HUGE whiplash that some of my first Planeswalkers are… well. Not that, anymore!

[@pvtpain66k]

21:00 Rowan's escape should be a card called "Ride the Lightning", and is a red instant that bounces a creature you control. :>

[@KCEBGaming]

Do you think Hylda was singing “Let it Go” when she decided to be alone and make her ice castle?

[@andyotero5663]

I really do love the story for this set, my one gripe with it is that it wasn't longer or gave more details to the setting whether in the form of more detailed writing, longer scenes, or side stories that could've fleshed out the other things going on in the background. I do enjoy Rowan's story however, it's my favorite because it really does feel like a natural and realistic break of sanity. The grief has caused the Kenrith twins to go down different paths, most notably the path that it sets Will on which makes Rowan feel lonesome as she has to figure out how to grieve alone while dealing with the fearful perception the people of Eldraine now have of her as her magical power slowly grows, revealing more of her dark ancestry. This situation mixed in with the dream of being reunited with her parents, an engineered vision by Eriette, places her right into the clutches of her aunt, allowing herself to be easily manipulated. It all really feels tragic as Rowan begins to feel as though this is the only path she can walk on, a path that intersects and contradicts her brother's. Other than that, I really feel as though the boons granted to the witches feel a bit underused. We're told that they're powerful items of magic yet we only really see one be used to its full potential. Agatha's cauldron really doesn't do anything, Eriette's apple is shown and mentioned but that's the extent of its involvement, and Hylda's the only one who really shows how her boon has made her quite invincible through the description of the vast, cold region she was able to conjure. All in all, they're not really used, and without them, the witches don't really feel like actual threats. If anything, it feels as though the witches are pretty weak on their own even though it's alluded that they harbor the same magical affinity that Rowan has, the same magical power that allowed Rowan to blast a hole into a mountain. It feels like the power scaling is quite off and makes me worry about how some of these characters will be able to stand on their own compared to the much stronger ones seen in other planes. However, I do wish they added a prologue to clear up the issue of the sleeping curse since it seems as though it's already been lifted now that Eriette's been stopped. It would've been nice to see a bit of the aftermath.

[@maxhoffenberg9354]

Fantastic. This story looks so good, and I was waiting for your retelling

[@bartoszganko5290]

Same

[@CosmicGiggalo]

The thing I like to point out a lot when it comes to Eriette specifically is her presence on the Enchanted Tales version of Blind Obediance. "Oaths are not but empty air. Take what measures you must to ensure absolute loyalty." With that plus that the fact that her Apple in game has the ability to Mind Control a creature for a turn, I have the sense that the cards showing Ashiok's nightmares running rampant through people's dreams *is* in fact what is happening to the dreamers. Eriette spins this to Rowan using the Apple and Ashiok to sway Rowan to her point of view, but the real antagonist here is definitely Ashiok. Their previous attempt at creating a nightmare plan was thwarted by Dack Fayden however we the audience never saw this take place because of a falling out with boom comics at the time so it was never *really* resolved in a satisfactory manner. This could be take two of that plot with the eventual pay out happening later on, but we'll see.

[@retro.7673]

Excited for the Garruk and Kellen interactions for the future

[@TheyCallMeDio]

Or better. Garruk and Syr Ginger

[@clasherking4528]

Garruk: hey kid, you smell like a guy I'm looking for. His name is oko Kellen: You're looking for him too? He's my dad. Garruk: oh... This is awkward

[@johanandersson8252]

The side story should have been about Neva using her powers to read nightmares to find a solution to the Wicked Slumber through them. The second one about Totentanz about how to live in a society as someone who is poor or alienated.

[@CyberBuster93]

STORY TIME!!!! Yesssss, this is my FAVORITE video series you do here on thia channel! The lore is just as important to me as the mechanics and playability of the game, and you tell the story better than anyone else. It's passion that sets you apart from the rest, it really is. You're the best man!!!!!

[@swordstochansey]

Yes! Always love how this channel explains the lore and story. Thank you!

[@zeroanonymity9736]

Oh that's neat! They finally told what Plane Witchstalkers from Core 2014 came from! I like it, though I wish it came with a reprint haha I love a good anti-control card.

[@zeroanonymity9736]

Oh ew they just make food tokens now? Boo

[@SNDurgon]

Witchstalker was in my first ever standard deck so that was a neat throwback

[@saitamagotchi44]

Ashiok is an intentional mystery, but to be honest they're just frustrating, since they debuted they haven't had an obvious motive other than interfering and enjoying nightmares and haven't really done much for a long time other than sit on the side lines and twirl their moustaches in a villainous manner.

[@Xenothios]

Ashiok is a terrible character. It's like they're trying to 100% a renegade run or something and just do "bad spooky" things just for the sake of being bad and spooky.

[@iTzDritte]

The story is so impossible to follow that Ryan’s half-hour explanations are the fastest way to learn what happened. A+ content!

[@zachcrouch168]

This is actually making me hopeful for future sets. I like that there are far fewer planeswalkers now. This story really feels like an older story from like early 2010s to me.

[@bryankopkin6869]

Im usually on top of reading the stories but for some reason I couldnt quite get into these ones. Thanks for giving an awesome recap that sets me up to jump in again next set! Love the content

[@Coryn101]

Awesome a walkthrough of the lore implications of the set! Definitely going to have to watch a bunch of these videos going back, they are so in depth. Thanks for making them!

[@Mythrandil]

This is the video ive been waiting for to drop! Thanks Ryan, I love your story telling.

[@zazinjozaza6193]

this is the best story magic had in a while

[@saitamagotchi44]

Agreed, it's nice that Rowan and Will are both getting it wrong by trying to do the right thing in different ways. Okay Rowan is way more wrong but that's what you get when you go from mono red to rakdos.

[@Kokonutzlz]

11:42 Same. Same. I saw Troyan in the spoiler show before the set release and I was so excited. I love the idea of the Omenpaths and Vedalkens are my favorite race (rip Dovin Baan)

[@josueantonio12]

Twas about time! Thank you for the awesome story Ryan and Nicole! Or should I say: Ricole?

[@akirachisaka9997]

This is the first set in quite a long while, where the planeswalkers aren’t the protagonist or main focus. And instead important legendary creatures, locals of the plane, are being the important characters. And yeah, I think it worked out quite well. Having locals being the focus of a story meant that each character have a deeper connection to the local world they are in. And I think this is a right direction. Planeswalkers will still be an important part of Magic, but I can see them filling more supportive mentor roles, or only appearing in the end of the story to deus ex the ending.

[@vavakxnonexus]

Aside from all the clear parallels between the plotlines, I really enjoyed how much manipulative characters got to do their thing in the story - Eriette converting Rowan, Ashiok presumably manipulating Eriette in turn, and Talion having his own reasons for turning a young hero against the witches he helped kickstart this in the first place. I'm glad most of the big antagonists made it out, too - Eriette feels like a very fun villain to keep around, the mirror magic she & the other Wilds of Eldraine witches seem to use is really fun visually (and has unexplored story potential - some identity theft, anyone?), and she makes for a nice loud & glamorous contrast to Ashiok's more subtle, whisper-in-your-ear presence. Definitely look forward to whatever story those two involve themselves in next.

[@la_grande_gargouille]

I agree with you, I was really on track with the side characters, especially the Sky Realm part: with the Mother Goose, Beluna & Yorvo, I am a bit biased cause my favourite tale is 'Jack and the Beanstalk' but... it has captured the "fairy magic" effect perfectly. I was also confused by Ashiok's postures, and that's a little shame, cause I'm craving a lot for their desired villain stand! It announces great moments for the next stories, I'm impatient to watch you and Nicole talk about it! Thanks

[@thenardedgamer247]

Needed this today!

[@zenalias3131]

Ashiok coming in and out of the story felt really like how they made Tezzeret appear and disappear in the stories prior. So we might get to see another "grand scheme of things" cooked by Ashiok, in sets to come, especially when Wotc teased that the sets up to 2025 are like one big story, with Kellan being central to the plot

[@DerrylHopkins]

I do think it's funny that Ashiok is just here, feeding on nightmares and just watching weird court shenanigans.

[@goncaloferreira6429]

@ Magic Arcanum As always my thanks for the summary. Thoughts and questions. 1- Do we have a main character here or do we have a ff6 situation? 2- Will and Rowen: does these evolution of their stories and characters make sense? how old are they again? it seems they are stil making teenage mistakes. still it is nice to see see the past ( visiting strixhaven) having some importance in the characters. i hope things like this happened more often. 3- Nice to see Eldraine still true to being the fairy tale plane. still think it overlaps with zendikar, lorwin and the generic medieval fantasy world vibe. 4- 10:14 is this a resolved story or a new mistery? who is the twins mother? is she dead? 5- As always with mtg stories things happen but we lack a definitive satisfatory ending. they keep making stories that are just preparing the next thing storywise. 6- So we have a vedalken on eldraine, a race that doesnt exist there. Apart from the mirror thing how is that explored? will we finally see the citizens of the multiverse aknowledge that they live in a multiverse? 7- 11:20 does this explain why she is so magicaly powerfull? why is will not as powerfull? 8- so is thalion a good guy or a bad guy? 9- is the twins loss of the spark mentioned or explored at all? 10- who is the bad guy in this story? we get tho otherworld villains influencing this, oko and Ashiok but both are not great villains.

[@MagicArcanum]

1 - The main characters are Kellan and Rowan. The story mostly flips back and forth between their actions and the people they interact with. 2 - They should be in their late teens or early twenties. I think they're making mistakes because they just witnessed both their parents die at the hands of the phyrexians, and then immediately lost their own sparks. That's a lot to deal with, especially if they're that young. 3 - Yes I think this visit helped give the plane a more clear identity regarding fairy tales and Arthurian legends. 4 - We learned all about the twin's birth mother on our first visit to the plane four years ago. She was a witch (and we now know it was one of Eriette's sisters) who put a love spell on King Kenrith and forced him to get her pregnant. When the twins were born, the witch killed them. Then Linden arrived and used her magical sword to bring the children back to life. Linden killed the witch, and married Kenrith, and raised the kids as her own. So the twin's unnamed mother has been dead for virtually their whole life (which again, I estimate is about 20 years) 5 - I think the ending of this one was pretty solid. Eriette and her sisters are defeated and the curse is broken. There are some lose ends but that's necessary to keep things interesting moving forward. 6 - Kellan notices that Troyan looks unlike anyone else he's ever encountered, but Kellan also knows Eldraine is a magical place full of all sorts of interesting creatures he's not familiar with, so he doesn't really worry about it. Most of the people who survived the phyrexian invasion are already aware of "realms beyond our own," as Ruby puts it, but since Kellan was from a tiny village untouched by the invasion, he (and the other people there) truly had no idea. 7 - Will and Rowan are twins and have the same witch blood within them. I think Will is just as powerful (and later in the story, he is able to stop all of Rowan's attacks with his ice magic quite easily.) Rowan appears more powerful, because we see her destroy mountain tops, but I think if Will wanted, he could also just build a mountain of ice, so it evens out. 8 - Talion, like many fae on Eldraine, don't always follow our human versions of morality. In the story, we learn Talion gave the witch sisters each a boon (the cauldron, the ice crown, and the enchanted apple) to help them enact the sleeping spell, but Ruby and Kellan both warn us that with Fae nothing comes free. Talion probably expected to have some control over the sisters, or at least have them owe a favor, but Talion was never able to use that, and they realized everyone falling asleep was no fun, hence their plan to use Ruby and Kellan to defeat the witches. 9 - Rowan tries to planeswalk away early in the story when she's mad at Will but realizes it won't work and so she storms off. When she meets Ashiok later, it is Ashiok who confirms "the spark is gone," which Rowan thinks means for all planeswalkers. That's why she's surprised later to see Ashiok planeswalk in and out of the castle during the final battle. But that's about it for exploring the impact of the spark rupture. 10 - The central villain is Eriette, who used the enchanted slumber curse to slow the phyrexian invasion, but then realized it let her have a lot of control over life on the plane. Inspired by Ashiok's mentoring, Eriette worked to keep the curse going, and grew to enjoy the power it gave her. But this made her a target for Kellan and Ruby, and ultimately results in her own downfall.

[@lachlansimpson5317]

I love that the story is free on mtgs KZbin channel to listen to add an audio book

[@N-cromancer]

Been waiting for this🎉 i read all 5he stories so lets hear it. They have audio readings of the story on MTG official

[@raniertartarus1636]

Finally!! Been watching your vids since 2020

[@Av3rag3Cadav3r]

was just looking for this yesterday!

[@prinnynaito]

Got the impression that Will really did had a plan for the fight with Imodane because of what we see in hs fight with Rowan. Despite Rowan narration it is obvius that it was Will the one that actually had control in the fight being allways a step ahead of his sister.

[@ulifernando]

Great recap of the lore!

[@kimarous]

There's certain cards in the set implying there are side stories, but nothing has been released as yet. Besides Redtooth Keep, there seems to be a noblewoman named Neva being stalked by nightmares, a peasant named Ash in a Cinderella-like, a rat noble by the name of Lord Skitter working with witches, a possibly related rat piper named Totentanz, an apprentice wizard named Johann up to magical shenanigans, a witch hunter girl named Greta avenging her pie-cooked brother by assaulting the witch-run candy town of Sweettooth, and something about some dwarves having their feast interrupted by redcap goblins.

[@MagicArcanum]

Wizards of the Coast has confirmed there are no more stories coming, and those cards you noted are just in the set to support the two-color draft archetypes while being an in-world reference to our world's most famous fairy tales.

[@kimarous]

@@MagicArcanum That's a bit of a bummer. Still, I think there's room to infer side stories for this set, even if there isn't text to support it.

[@nickbalmes6640]

At last! I've been waiting for this video to drop 🎉

[@purrfectwaffle8621]

It would be cool if Will and Rowan’s mother got a card as the second 4 colour legend in WUBR, considering the twins colour pairing for the set.

[@saitamagotchi44]

I wouldn't rule out her still being alive and ending up queen.

[@donb7519]

@@saitamagotchi44 that'd make no sense. She's an evil witch who mind controlled the old king and tried to sacrifice the twins

[@saitamagotchi44]

@@donb7519 I meant the mother of Will and Rowan, not Ariette.

[@donb7519]

@@saitamagotchi44 no that was their mom also their mom is dead

[@saitamagotchi44]

@@donb7519 So was Elspeth.

[@mattmaster8966]

I think it funny that after the last two major story events ( War of the Spark and March of the Machine) the next arc starts with Eldraine.

[@trumpets101]

I do agree that Ashiok should have had a much bigger presence than just "they're helping Eriette". To address some of the other concerns: we already knew from original Eldraine that Will and Rowan's birth mother was a witch. This finally expanded on it that she was 1 of 4 witch sisters. As for Garruk, the last we know is that he promised the Kenriths that he would watch over the twins. We know from the beginning of the Strixhaven story that he followed them to Kylem where the twins received their letter to go to the school. Garruk figured they would be in good hands. Turns out that watching over them was kind of Kasmina, but clearly she wasn't in the mood of the full time job or had other duties once the twins went back home during the invasion. Either way, we don't know what Garruk is up to or where he is. My guess would be that he still has his spark and is keeping up with his hunting duties. I just hate that we've had another major multiverse event and Garruk is notably absent yet again.

[@SNDurgon]

Couldn't agree more. Hopefully they come back to him soon.

[@keithfilibeck2390]

I think the Planeswalkers will get their sparks back at the end of this new long story, they are now setting up a "good" group of ex walkers and walkers, vs Bad ones.

[@SNDurgon]

Gatewatch: Civil War

[@saitamagotchi44]

@@SNDurgon I would say the odds of that are pretty good to be honest.

[@Jjdude101]

Love your content - keep up the good work :)

[@brettkeenan8367]

Face to "face" with Ashiok lol

[@Ashen-Crow]

I'm feeling the Kenrith's mom is gonna be a planeswaker that made contact with them already, I'm betting on Kasmina.

[@bartoszganko5290]

This set had one of the best stories in a whil. It made me really exited for the omenpathstory line. I was scared they would pull the Inistrad/Zendicar where there are almost no relics of Eldrzi apocalypse but fortunatelly it's not the case

[@mangohub3252]

I think magic does these sorta smaller stories so much better

[@nicduda5955]

I’m pretty sure Rankle’s Prank is a reference to his side story in MoM, specifically the other 3 fairies tricking him into thinking he was their king and then trapping him in a rope snare trap

[@sxnnfred]

Its funny how all the characters are based on mostly german folklore :D i liked the twists that the giants above the clouds have the all knowing mirror and Eriette is some kind of the bad-step-mom (Aunty) here.

[@7Alberto7]

😂😂😂😂of course it is Oko,it is alwais Oko😂 do not worry kid it is not like your father doesn't love you it is just he is too powerful for the Standard format and most other format in order to print him😂 Thanks Ryan fantastic video as alwais,long video are the best! Amazing!

[@JustASpider980]

So.. i was thinking of the Omenpaths and that handsome Vedelken and a thought occured to me The Omenpaths are a way to get a "planes walker" but either as a much weaker mage or as a smaller character in that story. I figured that those who "answer the call of the Omenpaths" would end up calling themselves "Omenwalkers" or something as a nod to us.

[@benhunt25]

I kinda don’t like how quickly Rowan and Will fell apart and started fighting each other. Like, I know it was set up in Strixhaven, but Rowan’s fall to villainy still seemed too sudden

[@doublee343]

24:51 for the best part :)

[@ToxicAtom]

Peter not getting his own card, and instead just being a cameo on a sorcery ad a generic creature was a crime

[@Ultoriel]

Oh. Y'know what would be an interesting sub-plot? Okko somehow loses his spark, but Garruk still has his. That could be a fun bit of character building for Okko since he'd have to really stay on his toes and possibly through sheer necessity become really good navigating the omenpaths. Whatever that might lead to.

[@MagicArcanum]

That would be a cool twist to the hunter/hunted dynamic, I have to agree!

[@SRMC23]

For the people that feels the story didnt focus too much on the wilds. i think its because this plane doesnt really have like a clear distinction of where the realm ends and the wilds start. i think in general terms the current state of Eldraine is "post-apocaliptic", castle Vantress and maybe the Red and Green castles are the only parts of the realm still standing after the invasion and the wilds probably expanded over what was previously carefully patrolled countryside by the knights. the set color combinations focus on different things happening on the plane at the same time of this main storyline but as always, we cannot get enough narration given because its a singular set rather than a block. I expect something similar is gonna be happening with Ixalan.

[@zeikezsv]

I love this, keep up the lore!

[@Toasty373]

I feel like a way to get out of the innane Ashiok story is to show that they were Inceptioning other plane's rulers to come to Eldraine by creating nightmares of the people there. Maybe in the follow-up to Kaldheim we'll see the Elves launch an attack at Ashiok's behest to cause more nightmares and thus, increase their power

[@rick8216]

I would find it deeply amusing to have Garruk stuck on Shandalar AGAIN

[@TheChrisl214]

My favorite part is when Kellen breaks out his basket handles or whatever and they turn into swords made of light, or laser sabers, or light- oh. Heh, somebody's gettin' sued. Where IS my Star Wars Secret Lair anyway?

[@CyberBuster93]

Your Green Cup moment LMAO xD

[@niteus4907]

Can't wait for Tezzeret to become Ashiok's right hand man

[@thatepicwizardguy]

Eriette has a lot of potential as a sort of villain character and room to not be killed but swayed down the road. Rowan is also interesting with her struggles and doubts. Will continues to not be interesting at all and is just a baseline good guy which might be needed but he's a lame duck as far as big named characters go... Agatha getting iced immediately is stupid, Hylda probably plays a part later and if not that's a dumb choice. Ashiok remains super weird and mysterious but seems to be interested in expanding that sleep spell which clearly gives them control over those people at least in this story... makes me wonder what Ashioks overall goals might be, but if it's just some dumb "get enough servants so I can do X big bad thing" then the story is doomed to fail already. We'll see where it goes. ALSO ruby being little red riding hood, and her brother being peter... as in peter and the wolf? Clever choices lol OH YEAH and that new guy kellen? incredibly generic adventurer. absolutely zero interest in him.

[@TheDeliciousMystery]

It feels like all the nightmare stuff right down to ashioks planeswalker card are just here to synergise with a future set rather than to have anything to do with the current stuff.

[@migrn]

I just assumed that Eriette was lying to Royan about the enchanted sleep being peaceful and it was really full of Ashiok's nightmares.

[@MagicArcanum]

Eriette and her sisters enacted the sleep well before Ashiok arrived on the plane so it's not clear how much influence the planeswalker had, and we have to assume Eriette was telling the truth in the hopes of winning Rowan over. She had no reason to lie to her niece at that point. Eriette, while ambitious and cunning, did seem to really want to help the realm find peace and truly thought keeping everyone asleep would do that. She wasn't looking to torture anyone with nightmares and I don't see how Ashiok showing up would change that.

[@migrn]

@@MagicArcanum It could be that was the witches' intention, but the sleep was infected by Ashiok once they arrived on the plane. The only evidence I have for this is that Kellen said he was not having a very nice dream when Ruby wakes him up in the dungeon cell. Honestly, it's something I wish the text had been clearer on.

[@Gknight11037]

Yeah the side stories that we didn't get feel like they definetly should've existed. Stuff like the Werefoxes, Lord Skitter's rats, and the food monstrosities that make up the draft archetypes all feel like they're supposed to be stories that we just didn't get.

[@DeWillpower]

the fourth witch probably never existed, typical situation where a character wants to kill someone and then that someone says "oh yeah, that person, horrible person, btw i'm totally not her, i'm her sister, i'm your aunt, i'm the only family you have, love me"

[@MagicArcanum]

I mean there definitely was another witch and she gave birth to the twins and then killed them, but we don't know for sure if she was related to the three witches in this story. We only have Eriette's word on that. (Though Hylda also confirms they had another sister but I think she stops short of saying she was the twin's mom, because she's speaking to Kellan and Ruby, and it's not relevant to them in that moment.)

[@DeWillpower]

@@MagicArcanum if it's clearly four, then it's clearly four 👍 (also hi thank you for the videos)

[@GhostlyGhost333]

I have a feeling Oko might be in that new Wild West themed set coming out.

[@FLUFFYJOE13]

My first ever commander( arena braw but whatever ) was the bloodgod. Now seeing him killed makes me sad. I was able to play all the black and white for phyrexian predators in that deck. It's fun

[@RibusPQR]

Well, now we know what Eriette did after being rescued by "Ashiok" Crimes!

[@Shystichu]

Soon as I decide to hop back on magic arena I come here first to see what's going on in the current set

[@MagicArcanum]

Sounds like you're exactly who I had in mind when I started making these videos!

[@DreadHeirarch]

They confirm that Garruk still has his spark with the Syr Ginger card

[@MagicArcanum]

The card has no flavor text and Garruk doesn't appear in the art, so how did you reach that conclusion?

[@felipeguidolin1055]

- mom, why have I never met my dad? - well, you see, your dad was banned from almost every format. His +1 was just too broken... - what an absolute legend - really hot too!

[@joshuarogers7405]

Not an airtight story, but I think a noticeable improvement from what we’ve been getting as of late.

[@spencerschmidt-rundell1612]

I think it's a little odd how many ways things other than planeswalkers can get through the blind eternities considering nothing other than planeswalkers and eldrazi can supposedly survive there. Specific artifacts with a coating, onenpaths, trees, and maybe something else I'm forgetting.

[@NatesLegend]

Hey Ryan! I’ve been a fan of the channel for quite a long time. I’ve heard you discuss viewership or channel metric related things here and there recently and I wanted to throw in my 2 cents. I used to watch a lot more when I hadn’t found a high quality equivalent channel who was breaking down the stories on a weekly basis with the release of each new story from Wizards. Now the channel I’m referencing does indeed have a partnership with Wizards and I’m unsure if that effects how quickly they get their videos out as I don’t ever read the stories online and therefore haven’t been able to compare the story dropping to their speed of upload. But by the time I have one of your videos to watch, I know the entire story already. And that was the main reason I would come here. Now I come for the “history of ___” videos. So I’m wondering if there’s a way to do more “back in time” content for you so that I can come back as often as I used to? Otherwise, I will keep clicking on your videos when it’s a subject I’m not well versed in! Just thought I’d try to help with a genuine bit of information.

[@MagicArcanum]

I suspect you're talking about my friend Aether Hub. He does his videos each day as the new story chapters come out, but Wizards has changed how they release those chapters. They now come out way before the full card image gallery (which includes the story spotlight cards). I prefer to wait until we know all the cards, since I use them to illustrate the story recap. It is unfortunate that the story is released first now, because it does mean by the time I'm able to make my videos people have had a longer stretch of time to hear about it from other channels, but that's not where I'm losing views. As for doing "back in time" content, I guess you mean cover older stories, like The Weatherlight Saga or such? I've tried doing that already too, and those videos perform far below average, because new (and returning) players aren't exactly typing "what happens in Coldsnap?" into the search bar in 2023. I appreciate the feedback though and I appreciate you watching "for quite a long time." The most helpful thing you can do is share the videos you like with friends and other members of your playgroup 😇

[@LlywellynOBrien]

I think the nightmares thing makes sense. I wouldn't trust the witch to be honest if she knew, or Ashiok to be honest with the witch!

[@XaurielZ]

I'm just assuming they're setting Ashiok up as the Big Bad for either the next short-term or long-term story arc, but it sounds like a pretty clumsy way to do it since they don't seem to have actually done anything or contributed to the immediate story

[@simplysage3562]

My personal take on this is the Nightmares are in the dreams of the towns people and Ashiok is lying to Erriette as he feeds on nightmares Errite is white black a colour combo known for having a dark twist on order/peace

[@nik700]

A Simic Value menace is the father of a Boros Equipment commander, the fae are misterious indeed

[@joshelderkin9592]

Ive been waiting for ashiok to be a big bad since theros the first time and im so exited for it

[@clasherking4528]

Also... What about all of those cards that hint at some weird place populated by food?

[@MagicArcanum]

Those are just there to support the green / black draft archetype. They don't appear anywhere in the story.

[@kaphity]

They REEEAAALLYY needed to emphasize on the fact that planeswalkers can planeswalk. Instead of five of them doing it in each set, they let one of them do it five times now.

[@lintoralnoman]

Really liked the tie in with oko. Because the last set felt out of the way

[@Skeithalot]

Great video.

[@ThisHandleIsNotAvailable.]

What happens in Eldraine stays in Eldraine.

[@franka4312]

15:39 ICE-olation... nice!

[@theatog]

Just realized something strange. For almost every other KZbin channel, I always skip their intro. For some reason when i clicked on this video that is 100% new.... it started 15 seconds in. Strange. maybe a bug. But the funny part that I realized is that, for this particular channel, I can't watch without the intro. I had to go back LOL