How long did the Realmbreaker Invasion last?
Lore forum
Posted on April 24, 2023, 12:40 p.m. by legendofa
I'm trying to keep this as a lore question, not as a complaint about single-set blocks and story pacing, but there are some lore implications.
How much time passed between the activation of Realmbreaker and Elesh Norn's death? Does the March of the Machine set cover a few weeks, months, or years?
As I see it, the more time the Phyrexians spent on other planes, the more likely it is that some glistening oil got spread, and the more likely that someone on any given plane will recognize its cause and effects. If some glistening oil gets into the hands of someone who wants to experiment with it, rather than destroy it, that could develop into a new story arc.
FormOverFunction says... #4
I sort of assume that the new “oops oil got out” will be “oops Norn’s hand/head/hat/etc got out.” Comic book logic leads me to believe that Phyrexia will never really be gone...
April 24, 2023 3:27 p.m.
Deezy829 That seems really fast for an attack this big. I'm not suggesting you're wrong, or misinformed or anything, but it takes less than a month after a treepocalypse breaks open every single sky everywhere for Our Heroes to find, get to, and kill the mastermind, more or less permanently ending the threat forever, depending on what happens with the oil, as FormOverFunction mentions?
The more details I learn, the more I'm convinced that Elesh Norn was completely incompetent. No defenses, no failsafe, getting every single potential second-in-command killed (technically unconfirmed, but still), and apparently couldn't even take over a mostly-dead plane like Amonkhet. Did the Realmbreaker Invasion accomplish anything at all?
April 24, 2023 3:46 p.m.
I don't have any specific info offhand, but a few weeks does sound correct. It feels incredibly quick, and it is, but I think the motivation might have been under the hope of preventing oil from spreading as much as possible, so quick was the best option.
Elesh Norn, I'm not sure I'd call her incompetent, probably overconfident. Everything had been going to plan until the last strike force showed up and Teferi opened a way between Zhalfir and New Phyrexia. The previous strike force failed, Nahiri, Jace and Nissa were all compleated, the invasion was happening, it was all going well. Sure, there was resistance, but the New Phyrexian forces were still being sent into the Multiverse. Looking at it like this, I think the few weeks timeframe makes sense. They'd barely begun their invasion when Chandra and friends broke in a second time, which based on previous endeavors Elesh Norn thought she could handle.
I may be misremembering this, but the glistening oil was rendered inert correct, not removed from all the planes. Between that, and the flavor text on the next Training Grounds, I'm sure WOTC is keeping New Phyrexia in their back pocket for a future date where they show up and the oil reactivates if things are infected but just don't know it. Maybe Glissa is running New Phyrexia in the future.
April 25, 2023 7:19 a.m.
Unlife My reaction was kind of knee-jerk, so overconfident is probably the right word. Still, though, her death caused a complete and irreversible breakdown of the Realmbreaker Invasion, and she was directly responsible for the deaths of two other Praetors, and indirectly responsible for a third. I get that power-hungry megalomaniacs will make bad decisions every so often, but there are elements of her plan that seem like a "how not to run an invasion" guide.
For that matter, what's Ajani's mental and physical state right now? It looks like he got compleated, then uncompleated.
I guess we'll find out what happens with the oil when it becomes important again.
April 25, 2023 11:24 a.m.
FormOverFunction says... #8
It’d be kind of neat if some of the next few sets have one or two creatures, here or there, that ETB with an oil counter. No explanation. No clear reason. Just some oil. Weird and obscure enough that it’s unnoticeable, except for some fisherman or shepherd who catches sight of some odd critter once. Just let it sit. Long game.
April 25, 2023 3:20 p.m.
Couldn't Teferi technically pull Phyrexia back into existence with some time shenanigans?
April 25, 2023 6:20 p.m.
legendofa I think we have Ashiok to thank for that, I remember them basically bored, so they ended up on New Phyrexia and began messing with Elesh Norn's brain, making her even more paranoid than normal. It would have been nice if one of the other praetors had pointed it out, but Jin was the only one who reasonably could have, and i'm not sure he wanted it.
Delphen7 I think it was more Wrenn and Realmbreaker, but I'm sure Teferi would figure out a way if he wanted to. Though I'm not sure he does.
Deezy829 says... #2
From what I know theres 2 weeks between the events of ONE and MOM, and the events of MOM last a couple of days. Not 100% sure though. The glistening oil has been retconned to not work without Norn alive and is thus Render Inert.
April 24, 2023 12:47 p.m.