What Happens in Theros Beyond Death? 

Hey everyone! So glad you could join me for today's story time. This is the biggest video yet for this channel, and it's gotten an insane amount of comments. I do read every one of them, and really appreciate all your support and kind words. I'd like to answer some of the more frequently asked questions real quick: 1. "The God Phenax made it so Ashiok would not be detected by the other Gods, so that's why they can move in and out of the Underworld." I did forget about Phenax granting that power, but even so, it doesn't explain why Ashiok can move freely between the worlds of the living and dead. I don't think that depends on Erebos being able to actually see you. When Harry Potter put on the Cloak of Invisibility, he still could not apparate on the school grounds, because that rule was absolute. Likewise, I would expect whatever barriers are present on Theros to still function regardless of if they can see you or not, but I guess I'm going to have to accept the Magical Phenax Hall Pass. 2. "Gideon should become the new white god!" Gideon Jura is dead, and from Theros, and was a white Planeswalker, so it makes sense he should be the one to replace Heliod, right? Well, unfortunately, Gideon died on Ravnica, while the Immortal Sun was active. The official book makes it clear that as he is dying, he has a vision of his old friends and life on Theros, but he never makes it back there. (The card Heartwarming Redemption is just a dying dream of Gideon. It does not show him actually returning to Theros.) Mark Rosewater has confirmed Gideon is dead and died on Ravnica and is really really dead. So, I do not think we'll be seeing him ascend to Godhood any time soon. (Nor escaping from the Underworld to fight Titans.) 3. "Where did you get this story? Just from flavor text?" Wizards of the Coast put out an official story summary for Theros Beyond Death, found here: magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/theros-beyond-death-story-summary-2020-01-10 Note that it is MUCH shorter and less detailed than any story we've gotten in previous memory, which makes many people (myself included) think there was more planned, but it was canceled either due to poor reception of the War of the Spark stories, or some other unknown factor. Mark Rosewater has pledged that this will not be typical for stories going forward, so I have high hopes when it comes to Ikoria (which better not introduce another new planeswalker with an unknown home plane or I swear to Nylea I will break into WotC HQ with a sharpie and start writing lore on everyone's desk for them) Ok and that's it! Thanks again for watching, and I'll be back with another video as soon as I finish some improvements to my home studio (since you all seem to want the black backdrop to return. Ahem.)

That moment when Magic Arcanum has more effort put into it than the story article it was based on

First we had Soren in a wall then we had Emrakul in a moon and now we have Heliod under a rock. I can't wait for the new Zendikar set where we get Nissa trapped in some quicksand.

“Ashiok leaves to go find and study the phyrexians” well if thats not a giant sign pointing to the next BBEG then I don’t know what is.

That was a more cohesive explanation of the story than the official version we got WOC.

If I'm not wrong, Phenax blessed Ashiok with invisibility against the other gods, so they can be sneaky and enter the underworld unnoticed. I don't remember why Phenax did it. Perhaps just to see things get fucked up.

I would personally cast Tilda Swinton as Ashiok. I feel as she would do a good job at being creepy and mysterious with the perfect body for that androgynous presence

So now there's a space in the starfield for a white-aligned god? Well, Gideon's not doing anything at the moment...

Erebos sees Elspeth defeat Heliod, "Hm, not bad, you can live again." I really liked that part of the story. For a black card he seems to have some fairness to him.

Ajani is going to be very happy when Elsbeth meets up with him. He's seen lots of friends just die before him. Poor Ajani.

Rise of skywalker level hacks I died

About Mustache minute: Bravo Rian, now you got me worried about Ugin...

I feel like adding a jailor figure to any story kinda necessitates the escape of the imprisoned, pretty much like immortality with a caveat absolutely always ending in the downfall of the immortal. (e.g. Achilles, with his heel, mirrored by Haktos in mtg's case or Siegfried's leaf-shaped weak spot on the back)

I feel like white aligned villains tend to be the easiest for me to despise because they generally use their power of authority for personal gain. Just like Heliod, or the antagonist of Kamigawa. (Lord Honden?)

So Glad you are quicker than all the other RU-vidrs of Magic Lore. SPONSER THIS GUY!!!!! and nicole

Ashiok and Phyrexians has to be the most terrifying thing I've ever heard

Ashiok received a boon from Phenax, Theros's god of deception, that makes him invisible to the other gods. If sealing people into the underworld is something Erebos has to consciously do, Ashiok may have just slipped the net. Either that, or the fact that Ashiok is a sentient nightmare himself. Maybe nightmares don't have souls, and only being with souls can be sealed in the underworld? That would raise more questions than answers though.

It will be interesting to see how Calix evolves as a character. Now that he knows the multiverse exists will he keep pursuing Elspeth? Or will he become an ally of Elspeth

Yes this story is kinda Swiss cheese

So glad I found your channel. I've always wanted videos like this for Magic

"Even though Wizard got a little bit lazy with the narration, our trusty neighbourhood Ryan managed to put a great video tog-" "M O U S T A C H E M I N U T E" "O h n o"

These are some of my favorite MTG videos and I look forward to them every set! Glad you guys are still making them :)

Thanks for always reviewing the books! I love your channel and al the lore. You guys are great! :D

Either way, still so happy you’re doing this man, literally surprised your not at a million yet but you have my sub nonetheless! Keep it up!!!!

Thank you for your narration, definitely is well done and provides a lot of clarity! Cheers!

It's fun and easy to catch up with these. Perfect length, entertaining, good narration, I love the connection of mechanics and story. It's some of the best Magic content out there and certainly the best for story.

Seeing that you have your own channel for this is actually the best news I've heard today!

Thank you so much for this awesome cover! You tell the MTG stories so well! ❤❤❤

thanks for the great summary. i love to learn about the lore bit by bit and card by card. but i never would've been able to see the bigger picture lke that

Its nice to see u getting so much support, u fully deserve it man, ur a great content creator

New to this channel and instantly subbed! You have a very simple and clear way to explain happenings in the MTG-universe that i have not yet seen in other mtg-lore channels. Hats off man, gonna burrow myself in your channel for the next couple of days.

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain what's going on Theros. The Ashiok's journey part is very intriguing

Hype! So glad you're still making videos.

Thank you. I love the Magic story and sense they’ve taken it away you’re the only place to get it

Where else can you get such quality magic lore content?!?!? Awesome work!

Thank you so much for these videos!

Man! I gotta say!! Great video!! Congrats!!!!!!

U are so underated i wish u had more subscribers you deserve it

This whole time I've been trying to find a way to remember ashiok's name because her picture was on of first magic images I ever saw, and I have it! And what a way to remember!

Thank you so much for your informative video, I enjoyed it a lot! Many greetings from Belgium. 👍🇧🇪

my first Arcanum video and i am on board! I love how you explain things, you must be a teacher. and the mustache minute is the fun way to get a little bit of your character while i'm mostly here for the lore. keep it up!!

I've been looking forward to this 😁

Amazing as always. Thank you.

Anyone else disappointed by Magic's storytelling quality? Ever since Ixalan, I feel like the story keeps tanking, especially with how great War of the Spark should have been.

Another great vid! I can’t wait to see Ashiok with the Phyrexians !

Love your videos about Magic lore

They did state that each planeswalker's spark is a little different, so I wouldn't be surprised if Calix can only planeswalk after Elspeth. That's all the depth his character has anyway.

I love going back to Theros, it's where I first got into magic full on.

Can I just say that the music you have for this is amazing? Like, the ending music you have is just *fantastic*

About the "How can Ashiok go to the underworld when he wants"-question. As far as I remember Ashiok made some deal with Phenax that allows him to go undetected on the plane of Theros.

I love your lore videos, thank you

Awesome video. Thanks for the short story summary. It's a shame there is no novel this time around.

This is amazing!!! Please keep it and continue!!!

Thank you for this summary. I looove Theros’s lore, one of the best of Magic imo!

Holly...This is the earliest I ever been to anywhere...even at work

I am particularly glad about this one since I kinda forgot about the entire theros plot and didnt really piece out the cards this time around

I would read a whole book about the Returned. I opened a Thryx, the Sudden Storm, a mono blue Legendary elemental giant that I want to build around and know more lore about. Great job as always guys, keep up the good work!

Love the video! It's a shame there wasn't more story to go off of.

Had absolutely no idea Callix was Nyxborn. Love this channel, you always teach me something that helps me appreciate the story more (even if it is Swiss cheese at times).

I just assumed Ashiok was able to come and go from the underworld cuz of the deal they struck with Phenax.

im excited to have the Cards i painted on this set hehehe thank you for this videos. love listening to MTG lore and stories :D

You are a savior to MTG players around the world, thank you for all you do

Kroxa looks like the Last Giant/Giant King from Dark Souls 2 and Heliod’s punishment reminds me of Atlas holding up the sky in Greek mythology. I couldn’t gleam any of this lore from the cards myself (though not knowing much about the previous Theros block didn’t help) so I’m very glad that you released this explanation

Just go back into magic again, for the fifth time, thanks to Arena. I wanted to get into the lore this time, and finding this channel was perfect.

This video, and the sentence and a half relevant, has inspired me to make a Dimir Nightmare and Phyrexian deck with an Ashiok or four to hold it together.

The threads of fate might actually tie Elspeth and Calix and so they do end up at the same place. Who knows?

Do happy to hear a Theros lore video from you even though Wizards didn't give us much to work with.

Great watch, thanks! I love the Greek theme of Theros.

hi. i'm really a big fan i know all the recent stories starting from Dominaria from your vids and i really enjoy it. i was maybe hoping for older stories from the older sets to learn more about the lore. i'm in a medical field so i dont have time to read but i can listen to you tell the stories all day man.

Im new to Mtg and this is my 1dt set ever. Itll b memorable to me forsure... thanks for the vid. I pulled heliod yesterday! Woohoo!

I’ve come across a lot of RU-vid channels and podcasts on mtg lore, but something about yours is really hitting the mark. Thanks for doing what you! It’s great to finally know the main beats of the this story, but it leaves me with a big question: where’s Gideon? Seems like the whole afterlife jailbreak thing was a set up for getting Gideon back...

Love the series. Always a fun listen. Really appreciate what you guys do. NGL tho, at the beginning I was a little concerned you were going to read a manifesto, make a series of demands, and then execute a hostage to show law enforcement you mean business and are not to be trifled with.

For my collection i want a foil idyllic tutor, i just loved so much the art and the flavor text when i saw it

Yeeees! The Phyrexians are coming back! (They were mentioned in Dominaria, Tezzeret has ties there and is on the run, and Elspeth has unfinished business with them also...)

So euhm, kiora and Thassa backstory..? I would love to hear about that! :) Keep up the good work ;p

Nice job !

Where have you’ve been?! Miss ya! 🙏🙏🙏

I am so glad to see Daxos again. Ever since Theros and him being one of my first commanders that character, in particular, has been like a pet-card to me. I'm so glad he's back and kicking and relevant to the story (the other demigods are great but I really only care about "old friends I've already known" xD) and now you're saying he got to meet up with Elspeth again before she left? Aweee

My two favorite things in Magic are Phyrexians and Ashiok. So, this is a pretty great setup. Thanks for the story!

Your videos are amazing 😉

With the DnD sourcebook I imagine a five way war between the top gods would be a awesome backdrop for a campaign.

Im excited to add new god cards and new demigods! Plus the actual story cards for the set even if the story of tbd is a page long if that... either way thanks for making this. Its really amazing listening to others express their thought about the story. Thank you

Would be fun to play a game or two of magic the gathering with you :) front row seat to the story telling

Nyxbloom Ancient has me salivating over its form of mana ramp. Sure, it's a big drop at 4GGG, but I see that as a challenge to overcome.

Wow, this sounds like a great 3 set block with lots of innovative and clever mechanics that could only be adequately explored with complete, tight cycles with some kind of online story released with the WOTC Website written by employees familiar with the characters. You know, maybe a tight cycle of 2C or 1CD gods in Set 1 coupled with an unnerfed Constellation Mechanic, followed by an Escape-driven set where french vanilla Escape creatures flow like wine and "on the bottom of its owner's library" graveyard hate in G and creature hate in W could be especially elegant, simple design space to explore, followed by a third set that resolves things nicely while hinting at a Phyrexian Invasion, perhaps wrapping up the story with a return of Sagas?

From this set I hope to get a Shadowspear and an Heliod, thanks for the interesting video :)

I think that Ashiok was able to get into the underworld because during the Theros story she makes a deal with Phenax after plaguing the people of the plane to be able to hide from the gods, so they probably entered the underworld (although the gates were locked? Maybe Ashiok got in after the war started) without Erebos or Athreos or the other gods knowing

Wow I sure hope this is a fleshed out story:D

Them Subscribers be climbing up!

It's story time, ladies and gents! Whoop whoop!

Kalix planeswalkes straight in the command centre of new phyrexia

been having some good luck with a Sultai draw deck with Theros bd cards in it

I love you guy! Please keep it up! Also, quick question: do you do audio books? Lol

The story summary really makes me wonder what the original Theros Beyond Death would have been.

First video already subscribed also drop some merch pleeeeeaaaassseee lol

Thanks for this! I'm still new to magic and haven't left Ravnica besides Eldraine so I'm litteraly lost without lore drops. Lore drops are important to because they lead to flavor and flavor leads to mechanics of the set.

Klothys' existence is so exciting to me. Because it raises so many questions about Xenagos' mantling of the red and green God slot. He was known as the God of Revels, and she is Destiny. It is never clearly stated how Xenagos's giant revel would make him a God. And Klothys' imprisonment of the Titans means that she would have lost her Godly power. But she couldn't have to contain the Titans, they are massively powerful. So many questions. Xenagos has some words to say about his rather brief existence as a God. That it took incredible focus and concentration just to keep form. It is said that he surrounded himself with Nyxborn creatures, and that helped him. Worshippers for the God, it makes sense. Were these Nyxborn Klothys's creations? Regardless of all this, I love the mirror that the two Gods show. One of Chaos, one of duty. Even thought they share colors, they do not share purpose. Though that would betray the nature of the Gods. Could there have been Gods before the ones we know now? Ugh, I love this set so much😂😂😂

cant wait to build that heliod edh deck

Welcome to the magic world! What a great mustache :)))

I didn't realize the situation with TCGplayer...seems like channels keep dumping the reasons for showing up in the first place...glad to see you are still here...hang in there man...I will be linking your channel shortly to my main blog and adding you to my vuefeed ...