The Shrouded Knight
Here's yesterday's story episode:
And today's:
Episode 4: Justice Before Mercy
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Episode 5: Chains of Expectation
Episode 6: Explosions of Genius
Seanan McGuire has also been providing author's commentary on each chapter on her blog, and they are a delight.
Oh, bother.
Calling it now. It’s Jace. The culprit is Jace.
Disgusted, but not surprised
Giving an alternate thoery (though I think yours ![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
could also be possible): The culprit is Ezrim (the head of the Agency), working together Izoni from the Golgari (because the multiple spiders mentioned) and someone form Selesnya (since flowers have also appeared, and the powder used on Etrata could be some kind of hypnotic pollen).
Edited by Shadow-Whisperer on Jan 14th 2024 at 8:11:28 AM
Jace has connections with the Selesnya, doesn't he? I mean, even beyond having once been the Guildpact (for all the good that did.) I'm thinking of Emmara, in particular. Not that she would have necessarily helped him do this, but he could have gotten knowledge from her, one way or another.
The Shrouded Knight
Episode 7: Rot Before Recovery
Oh, bother.
Okay, so probably not Jace, though it seems like he's still alive and active.
Disgusted, but not surprised
Oh, well chapter 8 gave us an answer to the mystery: and of course it had to be someone from Selesnya. Whenever I get really investd in a mystery it's someone I like and I realize it's them and begin dreading the revelation. So, of course it had to be my favourite guild.
The Shrouded Knight
Here's a link to that story;
So we know it's Trostani. But we don't know why or what was going on.
What's the deal with the Phyrexian Script? Could it be a message from a Phyrexian? Or to a Phyrexian?
So, if you check the debut stream, they begin by telling an abridged version of the story... which includes both the culprit and the motive (and it was streamed before the story, so everyone who watched live got "spoiled" (I was busy that moment, so I wasn't and found out by reading the chapter)). So, while missing details, we now know that Trostani (apparently only one of them) decided to kill everyone who in their (/her?) eyes profited form the phyrexian invasion: Zegana experimented with the oil, Krenko profitted with scavenged technology and Teysa was working with the phyrexians... except that she was a double-agent, and used what ever she learned to help Ravnica (it's unknown if Trostani knew the second part).
Oh, bother.
So why target Aurelia? Was she in on the invasion somehow?
Disgusted, but not surprised
That is one of the things that wasn't mentioned, so we still don't know why Oba of the Trostani (checked the stream again to make sure which was it) decided to go after Aurelia. My guess, it wasn't her but Judith who sent Massacre Girl after Aurelia, in her plan to usurp the role of guildleader from Rakdos. Judith found out that Etrata didn't remember killing Zegana, so she told Massacre Girl to pretend it was the same with her.
Anyways, we will know tomorrow with the next chapter, but I'm still curious what is going to happen with Rakdos, since he is going to appear in Thunder Junction, and I want to know how he goes from sleeping in his pool, to becoming a cowboy (I hope it's because he becomes Kellan's friend and decides to join him in his quest, just like Amalia ![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
).
Oh, bother.
Rakdos seems to be bored with his guild if he's just taking a long nap.
On a side note, it's kind of funny that while Rakdos is an evil demon leading a guild full of violent hedonists whom everyone else on Ravnica rightly hates and fears he's never been the true Big Bad of any Ravnica arc. Heck, even in this arc he's being overshadowed by one of his own guildmembers.
Edited by M84 on Jan 16th 2024 at 11:39:14 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
Oh, bother.
On a side note, looking at some of the card spoilers...
Kellan's card in this set is another Adventure just like his card in the previous set. Seems like this is going to be his thing as he visits different planes. It tracks — he's on an adventure of his won to find his father Oko.
Edited by M84 on Jan 17th 2024 at 12:21:10 AM
Disgusted, but not surprised
Honestly I'm kinda hoping that he wakes up, finds out that Judith tried to overthrow him, tells her "you could've just asked", and takes the convenient excuse to leave Ravnica and find something better to do
Oh, bother.
With the final parting words "You bore me". That'd probably hurt Judith more than any torture he could inflict on her.
Disgusted, but not surprised
Oh, bother.
So some more info on the killer, the motive, and other context.
- It's not all of the Trostani, just Oba. Her sisters had no idea and are horrified.
- Oba turns out to be deeply traumatized because she alone fought against Realmbreaker's attempt to compleat Vitu-Ghazi. She also saw, or thought she saw, everyone on Ravnica who tried to profit from the invasion instead of stopping it. So she decided to kill them all. The problem is that, as her sister Ses pointed out, Vitu-Ghazi's roots are buried so deep that anything heard or seen through them would miss a lot of context.
- Her first known victim Zegana was targeted because she thought Zegana was trying to weaponize Phyrexian oil. Except it turns out Zegana was really trying to find a way to cure phyresis.
- She targeted Teysa because she saw Teysa corresponding with Phyrexians and thought she was a collaborator. Except Etrata revealed that Teysa was really a double agent passing intel to the Dimir (Etrata was her go-between).
- She targeted Krenko because his goblins looted Ravnica during the invasion and later re-sold the loot at marked up prices. Krenko doesn't deny this, but tries to justify it by claiming that goblins were risking their lives going behind Phyrexian front lines. And goblins don't risk their lives for free.
- Kylox was a casualty in her attempt to kill Krenko, but she justifies his death anyway by pointing out he was trying to study and replicate Phyrexian technology. Ral is outraged that she killed Kylox for what was basically industrial espionage, pointing out that most of the Izzet engage in that sort of crap anyway. Oba in full motive rant mode defiantly claims maybe she should kill the Izzet for that.
- Oba then confesses that she's actually been killing people for weeks, something that catches even Proft off guard. Zegana was far from her first victim, she was just the first victim everyone thought was important.
- Having gone full Villainous Breakdown, Oba then usurps control of the Trostani (putting her sisters to sleep) and Vitu-Ghazi while declaring that she is Ravnica and tries to kill everyone in the room.
- The whole thing turns into an ugly brawl. Oba moves to trap most of the guild leaders in vines. Aurelia, Ezrim, Lavinia, and Krenko are immediately tied down. Izoni resists a while but is also tied down. Yarus nearly impales Oba with a rafter but Tolsimir takes the blow for her and dies. An enraged Oba tries to impale Yarus in turn but Etrata takes the blow for him, apparently dying (which devastates Proft). Then Yarus is tied down. Judith escapes like the coward she is.
- ...But not for long since Massacre Girl attacks her for ditching her.
- Kaya is trapped, being unable to even phase out since Oba is tapping into the Ravnica World-Soul itself for power.
- Kellan falls to his doom. At least until his fae magic manifests to slow down his fall.
Well, that explains a couple things, like why Voja gets a card for itself without Tolsimir and why Kellan's card now has flying. Though aside from the mystery I mentioned yesterday (which remains unanswered), there are a couple doubts that remain: who will be the new leader of Selesnya without Oba? (will her sister keep the role or will someon like Emmera take the mantle?), will Etrata survie or not? (the is a line that metions her wound is seemingly lethal), what will happen with Agrus Kos? (Judith being offed by Massacre Girl could complicate his liberation from the crystal skull), what up with the hooded most-likely-Jace individual? (probably the ARG will give some answers).
Finally, I would like to share a card that answers one of the most important mysteries left after the invasion:
Fblthp lives! (also, I love this goblin bard fellow)
Episode 10: Roots of Decay
A few plot threads left hanging, but we're apparently getting an epilogue once the ongoing ARG is solved.
Oh, bother.
A final fight and cleanup.
- Etrata was playing dead, meaning Oba didn't bother to tie her down.
- Kaya uses one of Azorius' wards to trap Oba with help from Etrata (the wards need two people to operate).
- Oba tries to counter by using a ghost branch, but Kaya simply takes control of said branch with her own magic with help from Teysa's ghost. Kaya, Etrata, and Teysa subdue Oba. This wakes up the other two Trostani dryads who then put Oba to sleep.
- Ses and Cim aren't sure how to remove Oba from the Trostani (nor do they really want to despite everything). They decide to have Emmara speak for Selesnya while they consult with Mat'Selesnya to see whether the Trostani should even be a thing anymore.
- Aurelia arrests Krenko for the looting that was revealed, being pissed off enough over everything that's happened that she wanted to see someone arrested at least.
- Lavinia resolves to find some way to legally arrest Oba.
- Ral is worried about his husband Tomik's reaction to Ral getting himself into a bad situation again.
- Izoni and Vannifar aren't mentioned but they're probably fine.
- Etrata volunteers herself to be the Watson to Proft's Sherlock. She claims it's because House Dimir is gone, its guildmaster dead, and its agents need new jobs. Proft calls bullshit on her claim that Lazav is dead.
- Kaya attends Teysa's funeral, alongside Teysa's spirit. Teysa's pretty chill about being dead all things considered. She's still the Orzhov guildmaster as well, and tells Kaya she needs to leave Ravnica for a while to avoid any confusion about who is in charge of the guild. Teysa also plans to sue Selesnya for so much that they will wish Oba had died.
- Kaya pays one last visit to Kellan before leaving. She plans to visit Kaldheim to help Tyvar hunt a dire bear. Kellan confirms that Judith is still missing. No one's confirmed her death, no body has shown up, no one's taken credit for killing her, and the Cult of Rakdos has been laying low.
Edited by M84 on Jan 19th 2024 at 1:47:21 AM
Disgusted, but not surprised
So, a question with some context first: Checking the gallery for the upcoming set, the cards from both the commander decks and the clue version appear in English, despite being in the Spanish version of the website. They did mention that the Special Guest cards wouldn't be available in other languages aside from English, but, I'm not sure about anything else.
So, does anyone know if the commander decks and Clue: Ravnica Edition will be only available in English? I personally don't have any problem with English, but the family and friends with which I'm able to play in a ""regular"" basis wouldn't be able to play with them. Therefore, I would like to know to plan what I could get for the set.
The Shrouded Knight
Here's a new Murders at Karlov Manor story; Episode 11: Portents and Omens
With the help of a brilliant detective, the killer is discovered. But catching this dangerous individual is an entirely different matter.