The Great Pruning: A Defining Event for Magic: The Gathering Lore
As an avid fan who has followed Magic: The Gathering‘s expansive lore for over a decade, few events have captured my imagination as much as the recent occurrence known as The Great Pruning. This sudden stripping away of Planeswalker sparks across the Multiverse promises to fundamentally reshape arc trajectories, upend the status quo on numerous planes, and breathe new life into dormant storylines.
In this deep dive analysis, I want to thoroughly break down exactly why The Great Pruning matters so much from a lore perspective, the key figures impacted, speculative future implications, and why as a passionate Vorthos, I find this shake-up so creatively exciting.
Understanding The Power of Planeswalkers
First, for the uninitiated: Planeswalkers are ultra-rare magical beings in MTG composed of energy from the Blind Eternities between planes. Their sparks allow traversing the Multiverse to gather knowledge, artifacts, or conquest. Historically numbering in the thousands, their god-like power was eventually diminished via the Mending, but still impactful.
Now, The Great Pruning has stripped away most of their remaining interplanar mobility, restricting them once more to their native plane. For context, this table shows the major reduction over time:
+—————————+——————-+
| Era | Active Planeswalkers |
+—————————+——————-+
| Pre-Mending | ~5000 |
+—————————+——————-+
| Post-Mending (last decade) | ~50-100 |
+—————————+——————-+
| Post-Pruning (currently) | <100 ? |
+—————————+——————-+
As the table shows, The Great Pruning represents the most drastic reduction ever. What once numbered in the thousands across known history has now possibly slipped below 100 – a monumental contraction.
Key Planeswalkers Impacted
This spark stripping has naturally impacted many prominent figures across Magic‘s lore over the last decade. Let‘s analyze some critical ones:
Elspeth & Ashiok – Last seen on the gothic horror plane of Innistrad, these allies finding themselves trapped without escape routes now. This likely connects to the intrigue regarding saint turned nightmare Emeria.
Sarkhan Vol & Narset – These Tarkir natives played a decisive role in the past Khans timeline and return of Dragons. Their future involvement is compromised but intrigue abounds regarding the secret hidden history only Narset knows.
Koth of the Hammer & Karn – As two of New Phyrexia‘s staunchest enemies, their absence removing the Mirran Resistance‘s greatest weapons against Elesh Norn‘s corruption. I fear Mirrodin may soon be fully Lost, accelerator Phyrexian conquest across the Multiverse subsequently.
Ob Nixilis & Nahiri – Once immensely powerful Zendikar defenders, these controversial figures becoming sparkless alters the plane‘s political landscape. However Nahiri maintains some standing among Kor forces, and Ob Nixilis still commands dread demons who invaded years prior. Their influence continues behind the scenes, sparks or no.
While these are just a few critical examples, the broader trend is planes losing their most powerful Planeswalking defenders simultaneously, creating uncertainty on multiple fronts about how existing tensions may now unfold.
Implications for a Multiverse in Flux
This planeswalker downsizing also has crucial implications for the overall trajectory of MTG‘s lore moving forward. With barriers reinforced between realms, overarching interplanar wars become less feasible. The rise and fall of massive external threats like Eldrazi now firmly in the past.
Instead, isolated tales confined to singular realms will define this new era. The focus shifts to intrigue, faction disputes, and uniquely native conflicts rather than existential universal threats. Each plane must now stand alone, forging their path forward informed by past events but without cross-pollination between worlds.
It also accelerates asymmetry between plans in terms of development progress. Dominaria races towards an industrial revolution while Eldraine remains feudalist high medieval. Amonkhet rebuilds in the wake of Bolas as Kamigawa confronts its Spirit Dragon protector turned traitor.
Some planes like arcane steam-powered Kaladesh seem poised for ascendancy while others like Lorwyn remain frozen in temporal stasis between states. For engaged fans like myself, this diversity and richness of self-contained realm building provides perhaps the most exciting creative promise.
The Great Pruningpruned back the overgrown crossing vines between worlds. Now fresh new stories can emerge within each unique realm according to their own internal logic. Where they go next draws heavily on the past but unconstrained by external continuity requirements. It‘s personally the future lore direction I‘m most passionate to explore as concepts like Phyrexian sleeper agents or Undercity unrest unfold.
Wider Perspectives on Power Lost and Found
Zooming out metaphysically, The Great Pruning also represents the Multiverse‘s auto-correction against forces throwing its delicate balance out of harmony, much like The Mending previously did. This fits with Magic‘s broad themes of power earned, granted, and lost.
Planeswalker sparks connect to the raw essence of the Blind Eternities themselves. Their loss can be thought of as that redistributed energy returning whence it came – reabsorbed into the very fabric of the Multiverse. Streamlined with its infinite magical channels reopened.
In the stories this manifests as crucial powers, protections, and influence evaporating suddenly during a climatic event or moment of surprise. For characters like daredevil hero Teyo Verada who defeated titans or theogratus Kaza sealing the spirit dragon O-Kagachi, these moments redefine vulnerability, drive growth in new directions, and ground grand deeds back to intimate scales.
Moments of sudden spark ignition also feature prominently throughout Magic‘s lore as sparks flare to life unbidden at times. Planeswalkers like daring warrior Gideon and mind mage Jace typify these origins. Moving forward, new ascendant character seeded on various planes may similarly awaken to ignite their latent gift one day if the Multiverse sees fit.
The possibilities as a fan enthral me thoroughly. Magic as a game and creative universe has always centered fundamentally around notions of power – gaining and harnessing it fuels gameplay and storytelling alike. Moments upending perceived power hierarchies like The Mending or Great Pruning thus carry enormous weight for all that follows after. And this latest upheaval may usher in Magic‘s most exciting lore developments yet on both macro and micro levels.
Conclusion: Cautiously Optimistic for What Comes Next
Magic: The Gathering‘s recent Great Pruning event thus signifies a monumental shift for the game‘s lore direction. The pathways between worlds are permanently altered, the influential movers and shakers within them changed dramatically. It augurs a period of uncertainty but also creativity, planes liberated to forge their own futures informed by rich histories.
As a passionate Vorthos who loves tying gameplay experiences to resonant narratives, I‘m incredibly intrigued by the promise these events represent. The closing off of well-trodden storylines plants seeds for innovative new growth that retains the spirit of what came before.
I‘m thus both mournful and hopeful, nostalgic yet excited for the lately unknown. Magic‘s Multiverse has never been defined by rigid continuity – it thrives on unexpected new permutations combining familiar elements as the mana colors themselves do. And as the Great Wheel keeps slowly turning, the sagas ever unfold anew.