Before reading further, this is a question relating to a significant War of the Spark spoiler (it's kind of spoiled in the cards, but the specifics are not). Don't read further if you haven't read the book.
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Has War of the Spark, officially deemed canon by Wizards, changed the nature of the spark?
A few years ago, I put forth the theory that Bolas would try to suck up planeswalker sparks to repower himself (albeit at the time, I predicted Karn v. Bolas because of the spark transfer stuff on Mirrodin, and because Ugin didn't yet exist in the lore). It led to a lively debate about the nature of the spark. Wizards has addressed the spark over the years as well. They've more or less repeatedly informed us that the spark, after the Mending: 1) no longer makes 'walkers gods, and 'walkers are mortal now; 2) only people with magic abilities can have a spark (forget the source, but I remember reading that); 3) the spark only serves to protect a 'walker as they planeswalk, and no longer gives them increased power.
War of the Spark had 'walkers being harvested. Their sparks were pulled out, and they shriveled and died while Bolas absorbed the spark into his gem, making him more powerful with each one.
I'll quote from the ending here, after Bolas is brought to the Meditation plane by Ugin:
'He felt like something was missing, too. His Spark, of course, but something else, as well.'
'“I don’t think so, brother. Look at yourself, weighed down by mortality. You don’t have the power to kill me in a few minutes or a few millennia. And you no longer have the life span to hold out beyond that. You no longer have your Spark.”'
'You have plenty of time. Not eternity, of course. Not anymore.'
'He automatically summoned a healing spell to correct this minor annoyance. No magic came. The shoulder continued to ache, but his lack of power was the greater injury. He struggled to suppress a tantrum.'
'Still in denial, the mortal dragon roared, “No prison can hold the mighty…” He trailed off, confused. He knew his names. The one he had hatched with and the one he had given himself. It wasn’t that he couldn’t say them—It’s that your names no longer belong to you, thought the Spirit Dragon to his dragon brother. Neither of them. You’ve forfeited any right to your true name and lost the power inherent in your chosen one. You are nameless. Nothing. “No!” YES. To make his ultimate point, the Spirit Dragon straightened to his full height and beyond. He seemed to fill the realm and his brother’s consciousness all at once. The mortal dragon winced and found himself…cowering. Know this, brother. I am your jailer for what remains of your mortality and will make quite sure you never escape. Your schemes, your machinations…all your little dramas are at an end. The curtain has fallen.'
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Okay, so let me break down what I see here. Bolas is without his spark, without his magic, and eventually, without his names, and Ugin is suggesting Bolas won't be living as long as he otherwise would have. We don't know what Ugin did during his invisible fight with Bolas, nor what he did to Bolas on the Meditation plane.
What we know from the book: Being harvested killed every walker except for Bolas, who not only had all the harvested sparks pulled out by an eternalized god, but also his own personal spark yanked out. Yet, he didn't die. This suggests to me Elder Dragons are made from tougher stuff.
However, this is the first time that we see someone lose their magic along with their spark. Teferi gave up his spark but could still perform magic. Karn lost his spark, but was still capable, one assumes, of magic. Ob Nixilis lost his spark, but reignited it. Before he did so, he still had access to magic. I'm trying to think of who else lost a spark since the Mending time. The Keldon/elf girl? If so, she could still do magic.
Anyway, absent Ugin somehow snatching away Bolas' magic without telling us, the readers, how or when, I'm left to assume Bolas lost his magic when he lost his spark. This doesn't make sense to me, as he was a supremely powerful Elder Dragon before he was ever a walker. He was also powerful as a post-Mending walker. I don't see how he would lose his magic with his spark.
There's also a faint suggestion that Bolas will not be long-lived after losing his spark. Was he not going to be long-lived before the events of War of the Spark? As far as I knew, Elder Dragons can last a good long while. Teferi seemed to age 'normally.' Nixilis was a demon so didn't really age, and Karn was an artifact dude. If Bolas was a long-lived Elder Dragon before War of the Spark, shouldn't he remain so after?
Then it appears Bolas also loses his identity for some unknown reason. I'm leaning toward this being Ugin's doing, but I'm not so sure.
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So all this being said, has the nature of the spark changed? Is it now not only reliant on your magic, but the source of your magic? Is it now more than just protection in the Blind Eternities? Does it have an impact on your power and your aging/mortality? If so, this seems a significant change. If accumulated sparks lead to god-like power, then the sparks seem to be more than what they used to be. And yet their fundamental nature also seems to be changed.
I realize this may not be as important for future sets and blocks, but the book is canon, and I'd like to be clear on what the new rules are.
Nicol Bolas's extended longevity came from the maelstrom as he was already becoming far too old even as an Elder Dragon when on Grixis, practically bordering on senile. Nicol Bolas losing his magic because of losing his spark on the other hand I can't explain as this is the first and will likely be the last time it occurred.
I believe that the "rules" are simply what the plot requires. Do you remember how Teferi got his spark back? Through tne Mana Rig, which never before has been shown to be able to do that.
Nicol Bolas's extended longevity came from the maelstrom as he was already becoming far too old even as an Elder Dragon when on Grixis, practically bordering on senile. Nicol Bolas losing his magic because of losing his spark on the other hand I can't explain as this is the first and will likely be the last time it occurred.
In the storyline on wizards.com shows that the spark gave Ugin new magics, right?
I believe that the "rules" are simply what the plot requires. Do you remember how Teferi got his spark back? Through tne Mana Rig, which never before has been shown to be able to do that.
Yup. When something doesn't seems to have a plausible explanation, the only explanation is poor writing. A Magic Occam's Razor.
Okay...so, MTG is like 26 years old and they basically have their own Old Testament/New Testament with the Mending........there's also the fact you could go back and sift through every scrap of MTG material and not find the answer you're looking for. It's very well possible that this is poor writing/poor knowledge of the source material or just plot convenience.
Assuming that is the case, I'll play devil's advocate and try to justify their reasoning. The best possible scenario and explanation would be that since Ugin is at or near the top of the food chain when it comes to powerful entities, his powers are left open ended within a reasonable extent. Add to that the fact that they are both elder dragons and may possibly share some unexplained relationship where Ugin is able to manipulate Bolas' ability to use his magic which would have nothing to do with the spark itself.
As you posted, Bolas knew his name(s) but couldnt say them.......Ugin says he's forfeited the right to those names AND the powers that went along with them (key point there) as well as Bolas cowering down before Ugin.......so what it sounds like to me is Ugin has put some kind of mental whammy on Bolas that has cut him off from his magic. It could be an actual spell, it could be a mental block (like what Professor X did with Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force)or it could go back to that Elder Dragon connection. Whatever the case, it doesnt seem like losing the spark is what causes the loss of magic.
As far as the how long Bolas would live afterward, I see some people saying he was already ancient way back when and we still see Ugin saying he has plenty of time left just not eternity. I don't see anywhere a set in stone amount of time he has left.......and even if Ugin said he didnt have much time left, time for a nearly immortal Elder Dragon would be much different so not much time for Bolas could be anywhere from 2000 to 5000 years on the downside. Without trying to break down and scrutinize every little detail, it's basically just saying Bolas has nothing left. No spark, no magic, no name, no freedom, no more immortality........he's lost it all. And it's not so much that he won't continue to live for a very, very , very long time by human standards, it's that he won't live forever as the Dragon God he fancies himself to be.
If he lived another million years it wouldnt be enough for him because he's the physical manifestation of evil and a large part of that is greed as evidenced by his plans to obtain unlimited power at the expense of the entire MTG multiverse.
Men, this whole plot about bolas name makes me wonder if creative or the autor started to watch or read "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime" making the use of names as a way to empower or evolve a creature. I was sure the theme of giving a name to empower something was a thing i had seen somewhere.
If they are going to use anime and manga stories as source of creativity i hope next time we see a pirate world it is a one piece on magic...
Men, this whole plot about bolas name makes me wonder if creative or the autor started to watch or read "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime" making the use of names as a way to empower or evolve a creature. I was sure the theme of giving a name to empower something was a thing i had seen somewhere.
If they are going to use anime and manga stories as source of creativity i hope next time we see a pirate world it is a one piece on magic...
It's a really common trope. Even Skyrim did it with its dragons, and if it got into TES lore, chances are it's pretty ubiquitous already.
Men, this whole plot about bolas name makes me wonder if creative or the autor started to watch or read "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime" making the use of names as a way to empower or evolve a creature. I was sure the theme of giving a name to empower something was a thing i had seen somewhere.
If they are going to use anime and manga stories as source of creativity i hope next time we see a pirate world it is a one piece on magic...
It's a really common trope. Even Skyrim did it with its dragons, and if it got into TES lore, chances are it's pretty ubiquitous already.
To go further with this, several forms of older magic tie one's magic and power to their names. Heck, it even made it into at least one Doctor Who episode, where the Tenth Doctor and Martha travel to Shakespeare's time and save the area from a coven of witches.
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Modern - UB Mill (casual)
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The best possible scenario and explanation would be that since Ugin is at or near the top of the food chain when it comes to powerful entities, his powers are left open ended within a reasonable extent. Add to that the fact that they are both elder dragons and may possibly share some unexplained relationship where Ugin is able to manipulate Bolas' ability to use his magic which would have nothing to do with the spark itself.
As you posted, Bolas knew his name(s) but couldnt say them.......Ugin says he's forfeited the right to those names AND the powers that went along with them (key point there) as well as Bolas cowering down before Ugin.......so what it sounds like to me is Ugin has put some kind of mental whammy on Bolas that has cut him off from his magic. It could be an actual spell, it could be a mental block (like what Professor X did with Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force)or it could go back to that Elder Dragon connection. Whatever the case, it doesnt seem like losing the spark is what causes the loss of magic.
As far as the how long Bolas would live afterward, I see some people saying he was already ancient way back when and we still see Ugin saying he has plenty of time left just not eternity. I don't see anywhere a set in stone amount of time he has left.......and even if Ugin said he didnt have much time left, time for a nearly immortal Elder Dragon would be much different so not much time for Bolas could be anywhere from 2000 to 5000 years on the downside. Without trying to break down and scrutinize every little detail, it's basically just saying Bolas has nothing left. No spark, no magic, no name, no freedom, no more immortality........he's lost it all. And it's not so much that he won't continue to live for a very, very , very long time by human standards, it's that he won't live forever as the Dragon God he fancies himself to be.
If he lived another million years it wouldnt be enough for him because he's the physical manifestation of evil and a large part of that is greed as evidenced by his plans to obtain unlimited power at the expense of the entire MTG multiverse.
Yeah, Ugin specifically says that Bolas might still live for thousands of years, he's just emphasizing that Bolas isn't a true immortal anymore. It's never suggested that Bolas is going to die soon.
And Bolas losing his magic and his names isn't a result of him losing his spark. After Bontu absorbs all the stolen sparks and explodes, he recasts the Elder Spell in an attempt to gather them up again, only to find that they've dispersed back into the Aether. And he gives one last speech along the lines of "This cannot be! I am the great Nicol Bolas!" before dying/falling unconscious/whatever happens that Ugin is able to take his body into the Meditation Realm. So we see that he can still cast spells and still remember his name in the moments after losing his spark. It's only months later, when he comes back to life/consciousness in the Meditation Realm, that he's shown as being unable to use magic and unable to remember his names.
One popular theory is that Ugin got Ashiok to erase his names, since we see Ashiok in the Meditation Realm on his/her card. Or maybe Ugin did it himself using the psychic link he had with Bolas. In any case, it's clearly not just because he lost his spark.
I'm pretty sure it’s that another planeswalker, such as Tezzeret, would not be able to Summon him via spell. Without a name, there is no way tomtarget him specifically in the Blind Eternities/Aether. This doesn’t mean that there won’t be an attempt to bring him back, cuz lets face it, Bolas is one of MTGs most iconic villains with plenty of henchmen and Bolas is smart enough to leave a backup plan
My assumption is that without his spark Bolas cannot access mana bonds off of whatever plane he is currently on. The Meditation Realm is a wacky plane that follows its own rules, and essentially belongs to Ugin now anyway, so he can't form mana bonds there. So basically, he could theoretically still cast all his old spells if he had the mana. He just can't access it.
As for sparks providing a boost in power, I believe somewhere in the book Bolas mentions that he absorbs the power of the planeswalkers he harvests. Following this same theme, maybe he gains access to their mana bonds and spells as well? Besides, it can be assumed that having a spark increases your power by at least a little; otherwise, how would planeswalkers always be the most powerful characters in the story?
Or it could all just be plot convenience. That is a definite possibility.
Bolas's lack of access to magic seems to more be linked with his loss of names or Ugin's role as a jailer, not due to his loss of a Spark. I think this is the most logical and simplest of answers. Whatever the terms of his imprisonment, Bolas does not have the ability to cast magic. Whether it is blocked while he is imprisoned or his ability to spellcast has been taken from him, I do believe it is separate from the loss of his Spark.
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Has War of the Spark, officially deemed canon by Wizards, changed the nature of the spark?
A few years ago, I put forth the theory that Bolas would try to suck up planeswalker sparks to repower himself (albeit at the time, I predicted Karn v. Bolas because of the spark transfer stuff on Mirrodin, and because Ugin didn't yet exist in the lore). It led to a lively debate about the nature of the spark. Wizards has addressed the spark over the years as well. They've more or less repeatedly informed us that the spark, after the Mending: 1) no longer makes 'walkers gods, and 'walkers are mortal now; 2) only people with magic abilities can have a spark (forget the source, but I remember reading that); 3) the spark only serves to protect a 'walker as they planeswalk, and no longer gives them increased power.
War of the Spark had 'walkers being harvested. Their sparks were pulled out, and they shriveled and died while Bolas absorbed the spark into his gem, making him more powerful with each one.
I'll quote from the ending here, after Bolas is brought to the Meditation plane by Ugin:
'He felt like something was missing, too. His Spark, of course, but something else, as well.'
'“I don’t think so, brother. Look at yourself, weighed down by mortality. You don’t have the power to kill me in a few minutes or a few millennia. And you no longer have the life span to hold out beyond that. You no longer have your Spark.”'
'You have plenty of time. Not eternity, of course. Not anymore.'
'He automatically summoned a healing spell to correct this minor annoyance. No magic came. The shoulder continued to ache, but his lack of power was the greater injury. He struggled to suppress a tantrum.'
'Still in denial, the mortal dragon roared, “No prison can hold the mighty…” He trailed off, confused. He knew his names. The one he had hatched with and the one he had given himself. It wasn’t that he couldn’t say them—It’s that your names no longer belong to you, thought the Spirit Dragon to his dragon brother. Neither of them. You’ve forfeited any right to your true name and lost the power inherent in your chosen one. You are nameless. Nothing. “No!” YES. To make his ultimate point, the Spirit Dragon straightened to his full height and beyond. He seemed to fill the realm and his brother’s consciousness all at once. The mortal dragon winced and found himself…cowering. Know this, brother. I am your jailer for what remains of your mortality and will make quite sure you never escape. Your schemes, your machinations…all your little dramas are at an end. The curtain has fallen.'
---
Okay, so let me break down what I see here. Bolas is without his spark, without his magic, and eventually, without his names, and Ugin is suggesting Bolas won't be living as long as he otherwise would have. We don't know what Ugin did during his invisible fight with Bolas, nor what he did to Bolas on the Meditation plane.
What we know from the book: Being harvested killed every walker except for Bolas, who not only had all the harvested sparks pulled out by an eternalized god, but also his own personal spark yanked out. Yet, he didn't die. This suggests to me Elder Dragons are made from tougher stuff.
However, this is the first time that we see someone lose their magic along with their spark. Teferi gave up his spark but could still perform magic. Karn lost his spark, but was still capable, one assumes, of magic. Ob Nixilis lost his spark, but reignited it. Before he did so, he still had access to magic. I'm trying to think of who else lost a spark since the Mending time. The Keldon/elf girl? If so, she could still do magic.
Anyway, absent Ugin somehow snatching away Bolas' magic without telling us, the readers, how or when, I'm left to assume Bolas lost his magic when he lost his spark. This doesn't make sense to me, as he was a supremely powerful Elder Dragon before he was ever a walker. He was also powerful as a post-Mending walker. I don't see how he would lose his magic with his spark.
There's also a faint suggestion that Bolas will not be long-lived after losing his spark. Was he not going to be long-lived before the events of War of the Spark? As far as I knew, Elder Dragons can last a good long while. Teferi seemed to age 'normally.' Nixilis was a demon so didn't really age, and Karn was an artifact dude. If Bolas was a long-lived Elder Dragon before War of the Spark, shouldn't he remain so after?
Then it appears Bolas also loses his identity for some unknown reason. I'm leaning toward this being Ugin's doing, but I'm not so sure.
---
So all this being said, has the nature of the spark changed? Is it now not only reliant on your magic, but the source of your magic? Is it now more than just protection in the Blind Eternities? Does it have an impact on your power and your aging/mortality? If so, this seems a significant change. If accumulated sparks lead to god-like power, then the sparks seem to be more than what they used to be. And yet their fundamental nature also seems to be changed.
I realize this may not be as important for future sets and blocks, but the book is canon, and I'd like to be clear on what the new rules are.
In the storyline on wizards.com shows that the spark gave Ugin new magics, right?
Modern
URGTemur ScapeshiftGRU
EDH
WGKarametra EnchantressGW
UBGSidisi, Brood Tyrant ReanimatorGBU
UBRKess DoomsdayRBU
WBGGhave TokensGBW
WUBZur RebelsBUW
WUBErtai CursesBUW
WRFiresong and Sunspeaker Spell SlingerRW
Yup. When something doesn't seems to have a plausible explanation, the only explanation is poor writing. A Magic Occam's Razor.
Assuming that is the case, I'll play devil's advocate and try to justify their reasoning. The best possible scenario and explanation would be that since Ugin is at or near the top of the food chain when it comes to powerful entities, his powers are left open ended within a reasonable extent. Add to that the fact that they are both elder dragons and may possibly share some unexplained relationship where Ugin is able to manipulate Bolas' ability to use his magic which would have nothing to do with the spark itself.
As you posted, Bolas knew his name(s) but couldnt say them.......Ugin says he's forfeited the right to those names AND the powers that went along with them (key point there) as well as Bolas cowering down before Ugin.......so what it sounds like to me is Ugin has put some kind of mental whammy on Bolas that has cut him off from his magic. It could be an actual spell, it could be a mental block (like what Professor X did with Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force)or it could go back to that Elder Dragon connection. Whatever the case, it doesnt seem like losing the spark is what causes the loss of magic.
As far as the how long Bolas would live afterward, I see some people saying he was already ancient way back when and we still see Ugin saying he has plenty of time left just not eternity. I don't see anywhere a set in stone amount of time he has left.......and even if Ugin said he didnt have much time left, time for a nearly immortal Elder Dragon would be much different so not much time for Bolas could be anywhere from 2000 to 5000 years on the downside. Without trying to break down and scrutinize every little detail, it's basically just saying Bolas has nothing left. No spark, no magic, no name, no freedom, no more immortality........he's lost it all. And it's not so much that he won't continue to live for a very, very , very long time by human standards, it's that he won't live forever as the Dragon God he fancies himself to be.
If he lived another million years it wouldnt be enough for him because he's the physical manifestation of evil and a large part of that is greed as evidenced by his plans to obtain unlimited power at the expense of the entire MTG multiverse.
If they are going to use anime and manga stories as source of creativity i hope next time we see a pirate world it is a one piece on magic...
It's a really common trope. Even Skyrim did it with its dragons, and if it got into TES lore, chances are it's pretty ubiquitous already.
To go further with this, several forms of older magic tie one's magic and power to their names. Heck, it even made it into at least one Doctor Who episode, where the Tenth Doctor and Martha travel to Shakespeare's time and save the area from a coven of witches.
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
Yeah, Ugin specifically says that Bolas might still live for thousands of years, he's just emphasizing that Bolas isn't a true immortal anymore. It's never suggested that Bolas is going to die soon.
And Bolas losing his magic and his names isn't a result of him losing his spark. After Bontu absorbs all the stolen sparks and explodes, he recasts the Elder Spell in an attempt to gather them up again, only to find that they've dispersed back into the Aether. And he gives one last speech along the lines of "This cannot be! I am the great Nicol Bolas!" before dying/falling unconscious/whatever happens that Ugin is able to take his body into the Meditation Realm. So we see that he can still cast spells and still remember his name in the moments after losing his spark. It's only months later, when he comes back to life/consciousness in the Meditation Realm, that he's shown as being unable to use magic and unable to remember his names.
One popular theory is that Ugin got Ashiok to erase his names, since we see Ashiok in the Meditation Realm on his/her card. Or maybe Ugin did it himself using the psychic link he had with Bolas. In any case, it's clearly not just because he lost his spark.
As for sparks providing a boost in power, I believe somewhere in the book Bolas mentions that he absorbs the power of the planeswalkers he harvests. Following this same theme, maybe he gains access to their mana bonds and spells as well? Besides, it can be assumed that having a spark increases your power by at least a little; otherwise, how would planeswalkers always be the most powerful characters in the story?
Or it could all just be plot convenience. That is a definite possibility.