Is Ashiok an Aetherborn?
Lore forum
Posted on Sept. 23, 2016, 12:48 a.m. by DemonDragonJ
WotC is being very secretive about Ashiok's origins, but I wonder if it is possible that Ashiok may be an aetherborn from Kaladesh, mostly because neither Ashiok nor the aetherborn seem to have physical sex (i.e., the standard definitions of male and female do not apply to them).
Ashiok's appearance is not identical to that of the aetherborn, but that can easily be explained, and perhaps Ashiok's planeswalker spark has given them a lifespan far beyond that of a normal aetherborn? In this week's story, there was an aetherborn who could drain the life essence of other living beings, which is vaguely reminiscent of Ashiok's ability to invade the minds of other beings.
What does everyone else say about this? Is Ashiok an aetherborn? Would that be an interesting twist?
freakman13 says... #3
Ashiok is not an aetherborn, that was officially confirmed about a day after aetherborn were announced.
September 23, 2016 1:22 a.m.
shinobigarth says... #4
in fact i think that was one of the questions someone asked Maro at one of the Kaladesh Q&As at PAX.
September 23, 2016 1:46 a.m.
Luckily no.
I don't have much else to add considering the other comments.
September 23, 2016 1:55 a.m.
Ashiok's not aetherborn, and even if Wizards didn't make a statement regarding it, Ashiok still wouldn't be. It seems your only point in the thought was the lack of gender of either party, but while the Aetherborn use they/them pronouns, Ashiok simply has no pronouns. Just Ashiok. That's not by Ashiok's choice either, I imagine Ashiok isn't that concerned what you call Ashiok. Ashiok is just an enigma.
I personally think Ashiok is/will be somehow related to the Raven Man. The Nightmare Weaver and the man who lives in nightmares.
September 23, 2016 7:20 a.m.
I still stick by my statement that Ashiok is a planeswalker from Lorwyn/Shadowmoor. She is simply another body Oona constructed and filled her memories with just in case shit went sideways.
My reasonings behind that is Maralen of the Mornsong couldn't have been Oona, Queen of the Fae's first "plan b", especially since according to Magic's timeline, Oona has been changing Lorwyn to Shadowmoor since the very beginning. Someone that "evil" wouldn't make up a plan B after 15,0000+ years. Looking at the colors, this would also help give the transition for Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver being U/B. I mean, even Elves on Lorwyn/Shadowmoor had similar horns.
Lastly, she utilizes Dreams like the Fae do on Lorwyn/Shadowmoor. The Fae harvest Dreamstuff (literally called that) and give it to Oona as it provides a bit of magical power. Ashiok could have found a more unstable, but greater power with Dreamstuff by creating nightmares and harvesting those.
And that is all I can guesstimate. Why Ashiok is missing part of its head, could be due to the power of Dreamstuff and possibly why Oona always had the need for backup bodies. Why Ashiok's gender is extremely hard to determine could be because that they are a built body, based off of an Elf from Kruphix knows when. But this is the most sounding theory I've come across and I like the idea of an Aetherborn, but seeing as WotC has already announced so, I guess not.
September 23, 2016 7:22 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #8
I am very disappointed by this, because I thought that we would finally be learning more about Ashiok.
September 23, 2016 9:38 a.m.
CastleSiege says... #9
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Ashiok is from Amonket. The name Ashiok and the way Ashiok is dressed have kind of a desert vibe to them. It's also not uncommon for the bad planeswalkers to work for Nicol Bolas, the ruler of Amonket.
September 23, 2016 12:47 p.m.
CastleSiege, I have the same idea about ashiok. It's an egypt type set, and Ashiok is very, very flavorfully egyptian. Egyptians had a huge fascination with dreams, so that ties in. The garb is also pretty Mesopotamian in appearance. I like it. Bolas could easily have dispatched Ashiok to Theros in hopes of learning a way to gain entry into Nyx perhaps.
Edit: imagine that master plan: Nicol Bolas, God of Whatever the Hell Bolas Says!
September 23, 2016 1:26 p.m. Edited.
Dredge4life says... #11
Ashiok is one of the only characters in MtG that is badass enough to have Ashiok's name as a pronoun.
Wizno says... #2
Wizards has gone on record saying that, while they share similarities, Ashiok is not an Aetherborn.
Source: https://mobile.twitter.com/wizards_magic/status/772216353990246401
September 23, 2016 1:17 a.m.