MS: The Hour of Revelation:
Lore forum
Posted on June 7, 2017, 12:03 p.m. by AgentGreen
The next season of the story is here
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/hour-revelation-2017-06-07
Sixty years ago, Nicol Bolas came to Amonkhet to set a plan into motion. Now a prophecy will be fulfilled, and soon the God-Pharaoh will return.
Homura_Akemi says... #4
That was so grim! I loved the old versions of Hazoret and Oketra. Razaketh seems extremely powerful. Turning the Luxa into blood seems like it could destroy the entire society of Naktamun. Good luck Liliana!
June 7, 2017 2:42 p.m.
AgentGreen says... #5
Razaketh does seem like a bad dude. Definitely stronger than Lili, it remains to be seen if he can beat all five Gatewatchers.
I wonder how his card is going to go and what it will cost to drop him?
June 7, 2017 2:50 p.m.
Hardhitta7 says... #6
Wow, that was absolutely badass! I can't wait for next one, I hope my dear Lili doesn't come to harm. I'm excited to see Razaketh's card. I hope it will be more Griselbrand level than Kothophed, Soul Hoarder even though I like them both.
This has inspired me to pull out the last book in the Ravnica Cycle, dust it off and finish reading it.
June 7, 2017 4:06 p.m.
OneItsStarted says... #7
Oh just reckognized that Razaketh turning the river to blood is the first plague of egypt, so we can look forward to: frogs(return of Gitrog?), lice, wild animals, diseased livestock, boils, hail, locusts(almost definately), darkness(we already have that), death of firstborn(Giden death?).
June 7, 2017 7:02 p.m.
Hardhitta7 says... #8
Oh snap, I completely missed that. Thanks for pointing it out, this should be sweeeeeet!
June 7, 2017 8:28 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #9
I was hoping for at least one more one-shot story before a return to the Amonkhet story, but this installment was awesome.
I imagine that Djeru now realize that the God-Pharaoh is not as benevolent as he has portrayed himself to be, and cease to be angry with Samut. I fully expect Djeru to have a card in the next set, after his major role in the story, and will be very displeased if he does not.
If the gate simply led out into the wilderness, what was the point of it even existing? What purpose does it serve?
The backstory was very nice and informative; the words of the gods suggested that Amonkhet was once entirely green and peaceful, so I wonder what caused it to become mostly a barre wasteland, if it was not Bolas? Also, has it really only been sixty years since Bolas corrupted Amonkhet? Everything that has been said in the story suggests that it has been centuries since his previous appearance, unless that is also a result of his magic.
I know that Bolas is one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse, but does it not seem to be rather ridiculous that he could overpower eight gods with minimal effort? It is one thing to be powerful, but it is another thing to be so powerful that he is an example of the "boring invincible villain" trope.
So, Bolas, has taken the other three gods as prisoners, in which case, I hope that they appear in Hour of Devastation, unlike the fifth legendary angel of Innistrad, who was mentioned, but has not appeared, yet.
Razaketh was awesome, and I especially liked how he tainred the Luxa with his blood, a nice reference to the book of Exodus that was too good to not make. Liliana will definitely have a difficult fight against him, one that I expect to be very dramatic and emotionally-intense.
I definitely am very excited by the story, now, so I cannot wait to learn what happens, next.
June 7, 2017 8:53 p.m.
Oh my god. I am in love with this story and with Bolas all over again. I'm just gonna point out all my favorite bits because oh my god. Just... ok?
Super spoily block Show
Basically, I'm impressed and excited.
June 7, 2017 8:58 p.m.
I have a feeling that Djeru will die. It's the obvious route for Samut to ignite her spark. We do have her PW card, after all.
June 7, 2017 9:41 p.m.
Perhaps, but sparks can also be ignited as a result of one's own death or a near-death experience (Urza, Sorin, sorta Jace) so she may very well appear to die only for the dust settling to reveal her spark has ignited.
June 8, 2017 7:25 a.m.
AgentGreen says... #13
But when most sparks ignite it often means their first planeswalk to a random plane
June 8, 2017 9:30 a.m.
What I thought when I read this story.
"... Is that all?"
An awful lot of flash for pretty much just confirming what we already knew.
A few questions: was flashback Bolas pre-mending? He seemed to either be aware that he would or had lost his power. Was the mending instantaneous? Bolas said he had days on the plane.
June 8, 2017 2:57 p.m.
Dragons of Tarkir (new timeline, but also old timeline) took place in about 4565. Sixty years before that was 4505, which is when the Mending took place. We can assume a few months have passed between Dragons of Tarkir and the current events of Amonkhet, but not much more than a year if that, as the sets since then (starting with BfZ) have all been one after the other. Thus technically, the flashback was post Mending.
However, its important to note that the Mending was not an instantaneous event. An instantaneous event caused it, specifically the closing of the final rifts on Dominaria, which allowed time to heal, which itself caused reality to warp until everything was balanced again. Bolas probably began hunting for a plane to implement this plot on the moment he realized what was happening. This also explains how he handled the Gods so easily at the time; he was still godlike himself, but not for much longer. Being so hyperaware, he likely calculated the decline of his power and planned accordingly.
June 8, 2017 4:12 p.m.
RicketyEng says... #16
It was stated during one of the Magic Story podcasts that the Mending was about 60 years ago but that it hadn't actually been stated in an official story yet. This is the first story to place current events relative to the Mending. When Bolas figured he had only a few days left of his power, I thought it meant that his invasion of Amonkhet was immediately after the Mending but before his power faded. I guess the idea that it was during the Mending but before the final rift was closed makes sense though too.
I forget where exactly it was mentioned, but Jace seems to know that Bolas's actions when he took over the plane were rushed. I wonder if something in his haste could have caused him to miss some small detail in his spells. Maybe that will ultimately create a small but exploitable weakness.
The description of Bolas's motivation and conscious decision to be violent out of the necessity of haste was very interesting. I guess he normally prefers less violent methods but they take time.
June 8, 2017 11:37 p.m.
OneItsStarted says... #17
Normally Bolas is a master of schemes, as per his grix is colors (example: Marchesa), and u was initially confused as to why he would suddenly kill a bunch of people on Amonkhet himself, but this story explains it nicely. It would have been great if he was double red to show his newfound haste.
June 9, 2017 12:34 a.m.
This also makes me wonder whether there's been just one grown-up generation of Amonkheters (probably not the right term, but I like it) or multiple, but all the people are killed off at the age of 20 or so (being deemed not useful or unworthy). Since no-one is much older than high teens, but there are some younger who are not old enough to do the trials. This also determines whether or not the mending theory is possible, if it was 60 years ago.
June 9, 2017 2:46 a.m.
Well Bolas was involved in the sealing of the final rifts, so he would have started to prepare all this only after that point, but directly after before he lost the power he would need to set this scheme into motion.
June 9, 2017 7:14 a.m.
So, any thoughts on the end game here? Bolas is trying to attain his pre-mending power but how? My guess would be that the trials are meant to get someone's spark to ignite and then for him to steal it somehow.. idk how that would play out but I'm not seeing anything else here that would help him increase his abilities. Am I right? Am I wrong? Why? Why not? What do you think he's trying to do?
June 9, 2017 10:12 a.m.
My guess with the gate opening is going to let in those with the curse of wandering, as seen in the new archenemy scheme cards, aslo someone said something about the plagues of Egypt, which I think is a really good idea. Also gideon dying would shake things up a bit. Mybe the new Samut, the Tested can replace him in the GW, unlikely tho. Razakath seems like a good match for the Gatewatch. I hope to see Nicol bolas smash them,or anything for a new character set.
June 9, 2017 10:52 a.m.
I don't think Gideon will die. In fact, no one will die as far as I know. Personally, I think it's too soon for GW members to die. A loss, sure, but death? I don't think so.
Wait until we return to Theros. THEN we can talk about Gideon's death.
June 9, 2017 11:30 a.m.
AgentGreen says... #23
I can see this being Bolas coming out with a Pyrrhic Victory. He defeated the Gatewatch; no causalities among the heroes.
But; it took everything he got and then some to defeat them, and he'll be weakened severely.
When the Gatewatch reappears an unhappy Ajani will give them the "I told you so" lecture, and then we jump into the next set
OneItsStarted says... #2
In other news: 3 new gods confirmed.
June 7, 2017 12:58 p.m.