Sorin Markov is a Failure 

What's your favourite Sorin screw up?

Sorin has some of the better characterization out of major planeswalkers, IMHO. Other planeswalkers will be presented as relatable but start acting like mythical figures the moment the plot requires it - Sorin presents himself as a mythical figure, but deep down is Just Some Dude (TM). I honestly find him more relatable, precisely because the writers don't try to make him relatable.

It would be great if you'd do a followup in this format but for "Karn is a Failure" - because Karn has a LONG history of trying to fix things and just failing absolutely miserably. The difference though is that he _does_ care and tries his best, which might just make it a lot more sad.

In midnight hunt there is a great back and forth with sorin and teferri. Sorin is like"my long life makes me see things differently" and teferri is like "lol you have no idea"

I like how Teferi, Kaya and Chandra go help Sorin sort out his family issues where he's adamant that a powerful vampiress had enslaved his brilliant grandfather's mind, but it turns out that the old coot married some hottie out of his own will and gave Sorin a lecture for being a disappointment and scolded him for ruining his wedding ceremony.

Y did the writers need him to magically forget where the Eye of Ugin was when the Roil causes the geography to change constantly? They alrdy had a reason for him to not know where it is but instead made him a bumbling idiot

I will never stop loving that the entire plot of Crimson Vow was Sorin trying to keep his elderly dementia-ridden grandad from being seduced into a marriage by a younger gold digger. Maybe he'll have a change to earn another point in March of the Machine.

Pretty sure Emrakul's "plan" is to simply be what she is: the third Eldrazi. After the plane's surface has been swept away (Ulamog) and reworked (Kozilek), Emrakul's role is to advance new life on the plane that's had its Aether recycled to the Blind Eternities.

8:30 i feel like theres a very simple solution to this contrivance. Rather than having sorin just "forget", one of the key features of Zendikar is The Roil, the reason why no permanent cities or large developments can spring up as they'll just be torn apart by the land. Just say The Roil moved where the eye was since Sorin was last there and you're good.

Now that you put this entire storyline into context, I feel that Sorin is meant to reflect a major pitfall of immortality. If anyone lived as long as Sorin did, “redefined objectives” takes on a whole new meaning.

Ah yes the often absent, dead beat dad of Inistrad. His greatest nemesis is only the consequences of his own actions.

I think you have it backwards on Sorin's relationship to Avacyn, especially given his despair in Midnight Hunt, Avacyn was always his daughter even if pretended to think of her as a tool.

Today I learned: Emrakul said 'Fuck this shit, I'm out' rather than continue fighting, deciding she rather be imprisoned in a moon than fight. Chad.

Ive always seen Sorin as a character weighed by the trauma of his existence. Even if you account for his pre lore backstory being grand and filled with OP accomplishments never to be seen, he hated being turned into a vampire from the getgo, the suffering clearly has been with him since the beginning. Despite his best efforts, the suffering continued to pile on purely from his own half measures being just that. His character doesn't have to end here, hopefully he can finally catch a break and give himself a chance to reflect on his past choices.

I personally like Sorin for the powerful duality shown in Sorin's character and how he is his own worst enemy, slowly devolving into a jaded old man

As much as I have an issue with Midnight Hunt introducing a massive sundial/clock that nobody ever had brought up before, I appreciated the final chapter of Crimson Vow when Katilda discussed with Arlinn the nuances of being grateful for Tovolar's aid, but not excusing his atrocities.

Sorin feels like someone who doesn't do good because he wants to, or because it's the right thing to do but because he heard people say that you should and so he does because it's what's he thinks is expected of him. Something about how he does the bare minimum to help except for innistrad just rings to me of someone who knows he needs to be a good person but doesn't know why. And even on innistrad he doesn't do a lot he just makes something to do it for him.

When he asks the group in midnight hunt “what have you done for the plane?”, didn’t Chandra try to stop Emrakul while he was busy getting revenge?

20:23 "Sorin, Sad Tourist" got me :D

I think they could have easily fixed the "Sorin made himself forget where the Eye of Ugin is, for some reason" and the "Why is he bringing Nissa along?" with the Roil, it's an already established mechanic of the plane that literally shifts geometry and makes maps useless. That would explain how Sorin doesn't know where it is after millennia pass. Nissa being an elf native to that plane should be able to locate and navigate better than almost any other being on the plane, so why they didn't just let her know where the Eye of Ugin is instead of adding the other dude they follow seems like a strange decision

I don't know who this youtuber is, but he's handsome AF, made an hour long video about Sorin Markhov, and looks like he should have his own entourage of gothic and eccentric styled gentlemen that I aspire to be a part of. Glad I got recommended this channel.

Honestly I wont be surprised when your channel blows up the video quality is so high and you clearly put effort into these videos.

There is a solid chance that sorin did introduce vampirism to tarkir on account of the fact that he seems to have done the same thing to zendikar Also I think it’s a little bit of a disservice to paint sorin as completely incapable when like 98% of his skill set seems to be killing things and basically none of his problems can be solved by killing things, it sorin had to be like doom guy he’d probably be very successful but that’s not really his situation so he just kinda fails Sorin also seems to have basically the same power set as kaya killing things, with a side of blood magic instead of sneaky shit

With Bolas Gone, he is the oldest Planeswalker after Ugin. He was able to create and destroy Avacyn and somehow getting a piece of the moon, but somehow he is unable to lean and often acts like a child. Even Lilliana who is poor black started to learn and changed. I hope at some point he will accept his mistakes and reconcile with Nahiri. Maybe when Emrakul escapes the moon.

30:44 This also shows that Sorin failed at his goal, even if this failure didn't happen in the timeline. He still is the kind of person who would give up, if he found Ugin dead.

You had me thinking he was a loser until you brought up the love he has for his grandpa. Now I love him

I like that he's depressed as hell and thus he probs thinks his emotions are more dulled by vampirism than they actually are he needs a therapist lol I think (and hope) the plan is for him to not appear for a while then once we finally get back to innistrad after all the phyrexian stuff and random stuff he is on his way to being a new person, black/white with an emphasis on white; where he had let humans into his manor for care originally they without his objection made it their new home, where he now protects people and such and is getting therapy lol

That was a thoroughly entertaining breakdown of Sorin being a nob. Now I'd love to see a tear down of Nissa considering how pampered wizard's had her be for years after the retcon.

Shoosh you, Elspeth is my favorite character and I'm glad she's finally back

41:30 Damn. Good job at presenting things such that, for the first time, I'm actually sympathetic towards _Nahiri._ It's not like I didn't know she had a rough go of things, but this was much better for her than the official prose.

Sorin is my favorite planeswalker and I'll always love him. I even named my son (now 14 months at time of writing this comment) after him. Sure, he's been mostly out of the story lately, with only small roles as of late and he hasn't had a big role outside of Crimson Vow for a long time. And sure, he's not perfect, but that's what makes him likable to me. I like fallible characters. Characters with flaws are interesting, because a perfect and infallible character is not realistic. Sure, he made bad choices with Nahiri, his former friend and someone who saw him as a mentor. And yeah, he became disenchanted to helping the multiverse and Innistrad as a whole after Avacyn was killed and he did nothing but brood and sit for a long time. But I can't fault him for being mournful and hateful for what he had to do, basically sacrificing his own daughter of sorts who he had made to protect his people, and for what? Sorin made himself the enemy of his own family for the betterment of the people they fed from and the plane as a whole. He sacrificed a lot and gained little. Sure, some recognize the losses he's had or respect him, but on a grand scale, he's alone and all he wanted was his world to survive and not succumb to multiverse threats like the Eldrazi or the Phyrexians. He had a full character arc, and he's changed and learned a lot. Even recently, he's seen in Crimson Vow that Sigarda is worthy of being the protector and has filled the shoes of Avacyn just fine, which is what he feared would never happen. He's grown, and is a two dimensional character, not a flat one dimensional one like some other characters with little to no character growth or mistakes that lead them to become new people who are better in the end. I feel his story is not over, yet. When or where we will see him again I don't know, but hopefully he comes back on the side of the heroes to help them again, soon.

This was a good analysis of the character. Sadly the poor way Sorin's been handled in recent years drives me to dislike how the story around him, and he himself, developed. He's gone from an aloof, highly-dangerous vampire to what amounts to a pouting child. As an aside; it's good to see you so focused on this content, great work overall.

I love Innistrad with all my heart, and Sorin being the failure he is; is one of the main reasons. This video was amazing, great work.

i laughed so many times during this. My favorite was you giving Emrikul the point for stopping herself. Wanted to say that the characterization for Midnight Hunt worked for me. Being So Angery that you want to see all your cousins forced to suffer for the decisions you tried to save them from and ready to fight anyone who tries to save them again is something i can believe as a low point after so many failures

You know, it would be really interesting if Sorin's propensity for wildly oscillating between extreme, almost sociopathic apathy to the point of becoming nearly unable to function as a person and extreme agitation to a point where he indiscriminately attacks (both physically and otherwise) even close friends and allies, was actually written as a consistent part of his character and not just a consequence of bad writing and bad communication between writers. Maybe Sorin has a serious psychological issue that has simply gone completely unaddressed for thousands of years. Maybe this could've been an interesting twist on the curse aspect of vampirism. We could've had a really interesting and supremely tragic character here, but no… Edit: I appreciate you trying to be nice, but fact of the matter is still that in War of the Spark Sorin chose to pointlessly duke it out with Nahiri while Nicol Bolas was trying to conquer the multiverse in the main plot by killing them all and neither of them chose to help in any way. Sure, maybe Nahiri shot first again, but that just means they both should get a point for failure.

Your production quality is insane my guy, and this is the kind of Magic Lore deep dive content I've been craving. You have gained yourself a subscriber.

Honestly with Tamiyo and Nahiri now compleated, I am so ready to see Jin Gitaxias try his hand at invading Innistrad. If properly written such a stroy would be AWESOME.

This is so good!! Loved the analysis and the framing device. We need more magic content that isn’t just… commander gameplay

Now I really want to see Sorin as MTG's first Wall Planeswalker card.

I think if we'd been re-introduced to an aloof, uncaring Sorin, unconcerned with saving Innistrad, who had had time to think on everything he'd done for the plane, everything he'd experienced through his multiversal travels and vampiric immortality, a Sorin that was just a broken husk of the man he had once been and we got a story where his desire to protect Innistrad was renewed, his care for humanity and the people of Innistrad bolstered and perhaps a greater move to white (1BWW cost maybe?) I think that would've been some interesting growth for Sorin.

42:50 - Good point, I'm pretty sure the whole reason Liliana destroyed it was because she couldn't release just Griselbrand.

I'm not sure how big of a list there is, but I would love to see the History of "Serra The Benevolent". I always feel like there are plenty of cards that make some reference to her yet I can't find a comprehensive and complete story.

I love that you share how Sorin actually is. I was totally hyped to see in my feed an innistrad video instead of ravnica. Keep it up

I love your videos because they are so much quality, is like you came from nowhere and launch an hour long lore video and manage to keep it interesting. Keep doing this pls

With Nahiri and Nissa possibly dead/permanently compleated as of Phyrexia: All Will Be One, I think it would be interesting to see Sorin move on from Innistrad for a while and decide to look after Zendikar in their absence. It would force him to understand just what his actions did to the plane, and I'd like to see him and Anowon interact again because it would be a good opportunity to flesh out their shared history and give Sorin another vampire who actually has experience trying to atone for their mistakes to talk to.

The side of Sorin which was emphasized a lot early on but seems to have been was his hedonistic one. His motivation for doing everything he did was that he was a pleasure-seeker touring the multiverse for entertainment. His original motivations for his supposedly altruistic actions were ultimately self-interested ones - he saved planes purely because they amused him, he wants to protect Innistrad in the same way that a model train hobbyist would protect their train set. If his character is going to be taken in a new direction, I'd re-emphasize this side of him.

600 subs? How? Well, hang in there you will blow up very soon if you keep this insane video quality, your hard work is very much appreciated, thank you.

Congrats on hitting 1,000 subscribers!

Sorin is the Docter Doom of MTG, Knows people wanna help but either fucks them over or doesn't want the help.

I have very little to say that others haven't said before, but I have to say something, and I guess I'm going to say a lot. I adore Sorin's design and aesthetic, and I adore the lore of MtG, including the way it twists and writhes in response to the demands of game mechanics and corporate branding. This video was nothing short of spectacular - a true delight to watch. I clicked mildly interested but a little skeptical of the title and run time. However once I started, I couldn't stop watching your hilarious and gripping Sorin Markov mini-documentary. On my first watch (on a different account a couple hours ago) you were at 849 subscribers. I'm now off to watch your Guildless series, and you're at 1K. I suspect that trend is indicative of at least your near future. Even with a very sparse upload schedule, content of your quality cannot remain hidden for long. And on a final if utterly superficial note, your presence is incredibly pleasant. You look like Tom Holland with a beard and sound like Taron Egerton with the enthusiasm of Spice8Rack. Maybe that's just being a youthful British-sounding lad, but it is a good energy nonetheless. I look forward to everything you will put onto RU-vid with excitement. Just keep doing what you're doing! Cheers!

Your channel is brilliant. Its one of those channels where I saw the subcount and had to do a double take. I'm really picky with my subs because I don't like my sub feed clogged with stuff I dont care about, but you earned one. I hope you keep putting out regular content! Cheers

"black mana planeswalker with white mana problems" that sounds like a joke from an eddie murphy movie LOL 11/10

Wow, this video was REALLY GOOD for how little attention this video and channel have received. Deserves more

Your videos deserve so much attention. You can tell how much effort you're putting into these, and I'm always ecstatic when I see a new upload. Here's hoping for many more videos and many, many more subs!

Was recommend to this channel from my MTG Discord. Well worth it! What a fantastic video. I love the deep dive and your sense of humor. You gained 10 subs in the time it took me to finish this video. I'm number 609. Nice.

Fantastic storytelling, I've always loved MTG but never read any of the books so I had no idea of Sorin's failing past! I really enjoyed your video!

I've watched this video a few times now and just noticed the "Sorin, Sad Tourist" part, lmao. Great vid!

Why do you only have under 2000 subscribers?!? Commented for algorithm, subbed and shared with a friend. The best to your future endeavors, now I will watch ALL of your videos.

Sat through this whole video after it appeared on my feed, had it playing in the background while working and glanced over every so often while nothing was going on, and when I got to the end and you mentioned only being on 500 subscribers my mind was blown! You’re very likeable and the way you’re telling the stories is very entertaining, and your editing is brilliant! I know it’s been a while since this video came out and you’ve gotten plenty more subscribers since but still very well done! Can’t wait to binge more if your videos now :)

I think with Emrikuel, the idea is that she felt so much "death" on innistrad and felt confused about that world.She had been "tricked" into being called to a nice tasty mana buffet only to find a land that was stained, rotten, and starved. (Like when Venom says "THIS FOOD IS DEAD!") So under that lens I understand why She left. In the sense she was escorted to a lovely looking restaurant only to find out it's super gross inside. So she ran away to the Moon. (Probably to give the "taste" of the plane a -5 Stars on Yelp.)

I'm so glad I've discovered your channel recently. I can listen to you talking about MTG lore for hours!

Oh boy an hour and a half of dunking on Sorin? I can't wait

I'm shocked you have so few subscribers, your videos are great

Another excellent video. Take as long as you need on the Ravnica video! They're always great and I don't mind waiting longer :)

I did Really Like the story segments from Avacyn's perspective. Exploring her perspective was really interesting and alien.

This was ravishing… Loved every second of it

I wouldn't mind it split into two videos. Glad to see you're back!

I dig it, your topics are off-kilt and refreshing keep on keepin' on man!

I genuinely want the in-set writing of sorin to align with his backstory, a conflicted and often self serving but at the very least competant anti-hero. For all that Sorin is a planeswalker, we don't actually get to see too much of him doing that. It often seems like he just... broods in his crypt til the plot demands he go to One of the other Three planes he has any fleeting stake in and then... just kind of mopes there for a bit too. Give me a set where Sorin is our primary focus planeswalker, on a world other than Innistrad. With the Markov crypts empty after Crimson Vow, Sorin's obligation to his family is over, and he may well take the time to actually travel, as he did before the Mending. I personally would love to see Sorin on Ixalan In many ways, Sorin's White/Black Identity has been at odds with the Black/Red character of the Vampiric condition on Innistrad. In truth, he has more in common with Saint Elenda the Dusk Rose than the Vampires of his Home and Family.

So good James!! And a great shirt ;)

What a great video. I was amazed at the end when you mentioned how small this channel is. I doubt it will stay small for long

The way it was written, I got the feeling that Edgar wasn't *actually* charmed. He was playing a long con the same way Olivia was trying to play a short one. After all, his family was almost entirely dead by this point. He would need another power base. But that may just be my interpretation.

Great video. Loved the trip down memory lane and you have some real great talent for writing in a way that makes it feel unique. Keep it up. I'm going to watch the other videos later and def gonna subscribe ^^

Maybe the vampire token confusion is fixed by saying that after the time fuckery he got a guide from a different clan

Sorin Markov was in my very first booster pack and ever since then hes been my favorite planeswalker.

I can’t believe this channel is so small this is some amazing content! Very excited for that myr video, love me a myr

Great video! I'm really looking forward to what this channel has in store

At the time of Khans of Tarkir, I did wonder about that vampire token being a bad idea....

Being a more casual player during the early 10's era and came back recently to the game I love these lore videos, always mentioned in flavor text but never found those articles, I was very entertained during the whole video, grest narrating!

Well, this was the video that the algorithm decided to drop on me, and I'm intrigued enough to look into the rest of your videos. So, congrats on that at least!

Such a good video! Thank you for all the hard work

Another fantastic video James. Get a Patreon going, I have a feeling lots of people would help you create these masterpeices.

Loved this, hope you do a series covering other Planeswalkers.

The "Sorin, Sad Tourist" fucking killed me

I could imagine Sorin being one of that walkers that's compleated IF they give us more in March of the Machines.

Well, done on this video and your ability to entertain. Subbed!

This was pretty eye-opening. I went into this thinking of Sorin as a wise planeswalker who was racked with guilt from some hasty, short-sighted decisions like locking Nahiri in the Helvault - only to lose all semblance of himself to bad writing after Eldritch Moon. Now I realize bad writing isn't a new thing for him, all the wisdom I thought he had was part of his facade and that one of his best turning point moments happened in a set I was too pessimistic to read into Thanks a ton for making this video. As someone who's always liked Sorin, I feel like I can really appreciate who he is now - in all his flawed glory. There's just never going to be another character quite like him.

I was really keyed into the story around the BFZ/SOI time, so I really like this recap! And I think losing all the time fits Sorin. After all, you can't be a brooding vampire without things to brood over, right?

Man I’m glad you were recommended to me! That never happens! Keep up the great work and I am subbed!

The real screwups we’re the writers we met along the way.

Awesome content!!

54:24 "[...]a Bad Dragon invaded [...]" 😂 cant keep my mind out of the gutter for this one

I enjoyed your video and of course went looking for long form videos about blocks I played to death and then never thought about again. Bully job!

You would think a vampire would understand the concept of things coming back to bite you but no, he repeatedly fails to grasp the stakes of the situation and puts being a pain in the neck to his allies over anything that would benefit his own objectives. Well, Soren, you made your own coffin, now it’s time to sleep in it.

Lovely video, though hearing all about Tarkir and how we're not going back made me cry a little on the inside (and outside). I really hope we return to that plan, I love the lore and flavor, and just want to see my beloved Abzan return ;-;

Omg im soooo glad u returned with this video❤️❤️❤️❤️

you deserve more viewers. If I new some folk that was into mtg lore, id send your vids to them

So how's this for incredible: I happened to randomly find your Ravnica videos on Weds. It just popped up on my feed, and I had to watch it because I loved that block so much but hadn't played MTG for years. (The last block I played was Lorwyn, I'm pretty sure.) Then, another video from Aether Hub popped up about Innistrad, and I watched the whole thing and I thought "Wow, this Sorin guy is kind of an idiot and a failure." And then the next day, you drop your FIRST VIDEO IN MONTHS, and it's titled "Sorin is a failure". So I'm asking you, Mr. Myr, if that is your real name.... PLEASE get out of my brain! I need all the space in there I can get! 😂

When Sorin went: "It's Markoving time!" I knew WotC really screwed up with this character

I was pretty confused about Sorin's lore even after looking him up a couple times. This helped a lot.