Bolas's Meddling

[Angelmonster]

Posting guesses without having important information gets us no where. I can say Bolas hatched from a chickens egg because a sorcerer thousands of years ago summoned the Elder Dragon from the chicken's you know what. It doesn't make it canon without the evidence to back it up.

You can debate Marisi and Bolas all you want but without the fact to back it up it is useless.

[KeeperofManyNames]

That's fine, but it doesn't explain why we should consider this a continuity error rather than an unexplained aspect of the continuity that can easily be justified with a little thought.

[Barinellos]

Originally Posted by Angelmonster

Posting guesses without having important information gets us no where. I can say Bolas hatched from a chickens egg because a sorcerer thousands of years ago summoned the Elder Dragon from the chicken's you know what. It doesn't make it canon without the evidence to back it up.

You can debate Marisi and Bolas all you want but without the fact to back it up it is useless.

That doesn't stop dozens of people speculating about hundreds of other topics. ESPECIALLY ABOUT THE NEW SETS WHERE WE DON'T EVEN HAVE AS MUCH INFORMATION.

I am not pointing a finger at you right now mind, but it would by hypocritical to say it's pointless to speculate when we have a "marit lage=eldrazi" topic open right now.

[KeeperofManyNames]

And furthermore, this is actually useful speculation because we stand a good chance of cobbling together a reasonable theory from the information we have, rather than wildly extrapolating from pieces of art about further events.

(Again, don't get me wrong, I think wild extrapolation can be fun and often valuable, but the burden of evidence for things seems to be rather low these days.)

[Tezzeret]

Originally Posted by Angelmonster

I saw your previous posts it just doesn't make sense that Bolas would give immortality to anyone, pre or post mending. He is not someone who bestows gifts upon his followers. Plus he was stuck in a rift so how did he give them immortality? With the dialogue in the TS arc I am pretty sure he was unable to do anything from the Rift unless you were really close to it. So what, Marisi can Planeswalk to the rift? I dun think so

No, my point was that Bolas had to do it before his imprisonment in the Rift, before Champion's Trial.

Originally Posted by Skibo

I doubt Bolas would do anything on Alara without it being in his plan. And since he only turned to Alara after the Mending, i'd say that Creative messed up again.

I really, really, really, really, want a timeline. Because they seem to screw up on the time very often.

My point. I really believe the timeline would be vital even for the authors themselves. Perhaps it would help them avoid such stupid mistakes...

Originally Posted by Angelmonster

Again, why would Bolas give someone immortality? It just doesn't fit into his character at all. Everything in the multiverse is below him, they ar eunworthy of being his equals yet he would bistow immortality onto some random Leonin? It just simly doesn't fit his character.

I have to ask: Was this the only thing Bolas did (or was rumored to had done) in Alara Unbroken that didn't fit his character? I don't think so, his actions were weird in the whole novel IMO. So yes, the one to blame is probably good old Doug.

Originally Posted by Angelmonster

I think this speculation is getting a little out of control. Re-read Alara, no evidence what-so-ever points to Bolas being on the Plane before the Mending. no one worshipped him for eons like there are for Progenitus.

We have no evidence that Bolas was on Alara before his imprisonment in the Rift, to be more precious. He probably did visit the plane before the Mending, but very shortly, at some point between Time Spiral and Future Sight. Remember the part when Bolas was leaving Dominaria, convinced that it could not be saved, and claiming that he "had prepared a suitable place for himself in that eventuality?" Wizards have already confirmed that he meant Alara.

All in all I think all of us are looking into this a little too much. Witht he lack of information Doug gave to us and MtG giving us no further information we simply don't know exactly what went down with Bolas, Alara and Marisi. No Planeswalker has ever bistowed immortality unto their companion becaus eI think Urza would have done that for Barrin I just think this was one of those things that Magic decided to do and not think about before they published it.

I don't think this is a good parallel. First of all, Urza was not as experienced as Bolas, and he was not an archmage or anything of that sort. He didn't use magic very often, so we can assume that he never reached his full potential in the arts of sorcery. Secondly, Barrin was more or less immortal because of the strange water phenomenon of Tolaria, so Urza wouldn't have the reason to try to cast an immortality spell on him. And finally, I doubt Urza would do it even if he could - he just didn't care. He called Barrin (and some other people) a friend, but in result he never actually cared for him or his feelings.

[exaltedgod]

I just finished reading Alara Unbroken yesterday and I can say that I liked the storyline but the ending sucked.... now with that out of the way.

First off... the Bolas immorality. Marisi is not immortal by any means and was not bestowed it by Bolas. It says that he gave him a gift of "advanced age" and he could take it away at any time. Marisi even states when he is going to drop the spell capsule off at the elf shrine that his bones were getting too old and (from my perspective) he was just about to wither away. This is a far shot from immortality.

The try to answer the question at hand "Why is Bolas on Alara?" Simple if you think of it really. Ajani planeswalked and saw the planes collide and do some funky things. He insisted that Elspeth went and look for herself (however she refused, and yes I know she walked when she was a kid and didn't see anything like the nature but Bolas is a power elder dragon he has to have some foresight). Bolas could have seen the convergence of the shards well before any of the others, or even more accurately he could have learned f all these things while be stuck in the rift, or well before the mending occurred he could have visited the plane and learned of its events.

On thing I also saw Bolas as was a great evil trying to become even more powerful then what he already was. Pre-mending he was a God of Gods now Post-Mending he was stripped and he wants his essence back.

[KeeperofManyNames]

Hm, well, that does help clarify the problem of Marisi's extended age. Artificially extending his lifespan at the cost of his health seems like a much more Bolasian strategy.

It does seem extremely likely, though, that he figured out the nature of the planes long before any other 'Walker (except maybe Crucius "Noodle Incident" Sphinxwalker). That still doesn't really explain why he ordered the Coil broken so early on, though.