Dear god Kathleen mentioned people bringing their animals and now I'm just thinking about Interplanar Invasive species and how just absolutely ecologically devastating they could be in such an incredibly mundane and normal way.

My take is that Rakdos, being the biggest theater nerd in the multiverse, is so into playing his role as "the Muscle" that he doesn't mind patiently waiting for the proper moment to do the punchy violence.

Magic the Gathering is like Godzilla. Sometimes there's a deep story with many layers on different levels, and sometimes there's Jet Jaguar/doing a suplex off a pyramid.

I think the image problem Jace had was that old counterspells would have flavourtext attributed to Ertai who was the main blue wizard character at the time and being snarky was his thing. When Jace then became the new main blue character of Magic thet gave all the snarky counterspell flavourtext to him even though he wasn't like that. It then lead to a disconnect bewteen how the character was perceived from actual story and how he was perceived from flavourtext

Everyone at LRR has aged like fine wine, send tweet.

I love the concept that the cult of rakdos jumped straight to murder sex circus cult to entertain rakdos, and in reality they could have kept him equally appeased by doing like BMX, Pro skating or football. Like the man wants a good show, and they just jumped straight to the most extreme version. It's like putting on the Running Man for someone who would have been perfectly happy with The Price is Right.

I'm inclined to agree with Kathleen's thesis that the people who are working on the story are talented, capable writers who really care for what they're doing, but they are horrifically constrained by the amount of space they are given. Addendum: I would absolutely be here for one (or even a series of) story retrospectives on the various pieces and arcs worth revisiting.

One of my favourite little details they missed is that when Oko and co. is reconvening post-failed heist someone asks where Malcolm and Breeches are and Oko(?) mentions that they were *only* there cause Vraska was, and now that she's gone they peaced out to follow her. It's such a fun detail, and I love that Vraska still has all that respect from her former crew. Also it means we might get more of Malc and Breeches in later sets when Vraska shows up. Love it.

I personally prefer present silver fox Cameron to young "I still get beat up for my lunch money in college" Cameron.

Kaervek was trapped in a crystal, under guard on Zalfir and his escape was in MOM, though as I recall they chose to not mention him by name.

4:26 Genuinely thought Kathleen was going to ask for people to send in their skin care routines.

My take is that Rakdos is the king theatre guy and just wanted to be in a heist story and is playing along with the story

Congratulations on five hundred episodes of tap tap concede! That's a thousand taps!

So the reason why the buildings look the way they do is because they’re built as quickly as possible. A lot of the “Western Towns” irl were put up shockingly fast (some within a few months) with local materials, so it shouldn’t be surprising that Thunder Junction would look similar because it was also built within a few months

Thank you Kathleen for properly representing the joy the Vorthos community has been experiencing from the story reveals/surprises from this set 🙏

"He's a bad dragon" My brain has been permanently ruined by the internet, because I immediately thought of the line of adult toys

As an Irish American, the idea that the Celtic-inspired culture may have been an empire, when Irish history is like THE OPPOSITE, is kind of funny. Also, if anyone's curious, check out the Giants' Causeway in Northern Ireland. Ties in with the folklore of the Fomorii and is a geological marvel. Looks a liiiiittle bit like the planar art for Ir.

"When do you think your plan went wrong?" "Probably around the time someone thought to make Gissa and Geralf part of it"

Coming here after reading today's epilogue story by Alison freaking Luhrs (!) to demand a follow up episode. We need to discuss THESE DEVELOPMENTS.

Oh we actually have confirmation that there was going to be an Aftermath set. The Big Score bonus sheet is Standard legal because it was originally intended to be the connected Aftermath set, but MOM Aftermath flopped so hard that they decided to merge them to avoid that flop again.

I'm right on board with Cameron & Kathleen- Magic Story's got really good potential and has frequently produced astoundingly good pieces of short fiction. If WotC would just give some of these excellent writers some gosh dang BREATHING ROOM, they could easily churn out lots of iconic pulp novels- Black Library is proof that this system works and is profitable. I wonder if maybe they're reticent to do more novels after how poorly received (rightly so) the War of the Spark novels were?

I always figured the other guilds ceded power to Rakdos and his guild because while he is a menace to society, should an interplanar threat arrive on Ravnica, it’s really easy to point him in the threat’s general direction and tell him to go nuts. Also the whole story was a case of Chekov’s Rakdos, and I’m here for it.

As someone who feels like I don't have time to read anymore, let alone catch up with Magic Lore, I really enjoy these kinds of story overviews and enjoyed this one in particular. I had very little care or anything on my radar for this set or it's characters, but this summarizing of the story showed that it was more interesting than I originally thought. Well done team :)

My overall reaction to the story is that looking back at everything that happened, Jace was written all over it and it still blew my mind when he revealed himself at the end.

The entire main story convinced me I needed another light novel of just what Amalia’s been doing this whole time, first on Ravnica and now Thunder Junction. I like her much more than Kellan and I’d love to know what the perspective of a sheltered dusk rose vampire’s view on the Orzhov, or a completely unmapped uninhabited desert plane would be like.

There are a lot of legends because it's supposed to be a outlaw/villain set as well as a western set because of how NA centric the wild west is as a theme. Not all of these are pure evil but still aren't as cut a dry heroic as the Gideons of the world. These are the opportunistic or the misfits. Also on the Eriette front there is a case for charming redundancy in a team.

And they started putting up the epilogue today!

In retrospect the weirdness of Ashiok's behaviour stands out; in the moment I had put it down to it being part of their greater plan. The mind mage tricks made it more obvious that it was Jace in disguise - he did the same mindlink group call for the Gatewatch on Innistrad. I actually had the thought that maybe Jace's mind may have become detached from his original body and found a way to possess Ashiok. This new being was a blend of the two and perhaps more callous, setting up a new arc for Jace in the "hero living long enough to become the villian" trope as his self-justified actions to fix the damage he had caused increasingly sprial into atrocities. It'd be a gut punch for everyone who loved the amnesiac pirate.

The Epilogue for this set GOES SO HARD EVERYONE GO READ IT!!!!

holy shit read the epilogue RIGHT NOW I'm sobbing

There needs to be a follow up for the Epilogues, those two were SO GOOD

Headcanon for Rakdos is that he was the big monster murder demon, but has chilled a lot and grown since the guild pact 'bound' him into moderation, learning the value of limited his destructive self and bending it more creatively. A sort of Red Death from Venture Brothers, still loves killing, but understands the rules are important, so he binds himself to those rules.

The Rakdos arc of just going around being entertained (and probably destroying many things) before returning to ravnica with his newly founded interplanar theatre troupe to replace the cult with his new group would be wonderful

IIRC, there was confirmed to be a scrapped aftermath style set, it's what turned into the 'vault' bonus sheet. That does not explain the density of cameos.

Nashi is my favorite mtg character, as someone who just got into the whole series, and I was super happy to see him receive such a great story! When he took on Tamiyo’s occupation in his aftermath card, I worried that he would just become Tamiyo 2, but this story directly addressed that! Nashi is someone with a lot of grief gained through what he’s been through, and there’s a profound feeling of being cheated out on a good life by forces and people outside of his control (read the Ajani story in Kaladesh where Ajani and an younger Nashi connect through shared losses, it’s amazing!!) So when he loses the best thing to happen to him, his mother, Tamiyo, it’s understandable that he’d gain even more grief from it, and how he responds to that is really great too. My worry about him turning into Tamiyo 2 is directly addressed by that becoming his main conflict. In losing his mother, his grief spurs him on to take on her duties and continually sublimate and obliterate himself so he can become Tamiyo, so that his mother could keep on living through him. He is fine with there being less Nashi and there being more Tamiyo, that’s his response to his grief. But this story actively shows that that method won’t work and won’t bring her back in any way, and that Nashi thrives on being himself over being Tamiyo. The way that is expressed through his version of story magic coming easier to him through surveillance footage not only honors Tamiyo, but is also distinctly Nashi more than anything. This is him reclaiming himself, both finding a new way to heal and thrive, and honoring Tamiyo’s true wishes for him. Plus, my favorite line of the whole story about Nashi’s memory being fallible compared to recorded stories is fantastic! It’s such a good encapsulation on the nature of memory and how it’s expressed and passed on through stories; plus, it’s a good expression of Nashi’s grief and wanting to hold on to anything tangible of his mother, but feeling frustrated that he can’t remember literally everything. Those smaller, mundane, but constant moments are lost on him, and it’s what he craves to remember the most in detail. They’re experiences he can’t get back, which only highlights his initial desire to be less of him and be more of Tamiyo even more. God, I could gush on and on about this side story for Nashi, I love it so much~!!!

As someone who knows basically nothing of the lore, I would love a episode of TTC about what lore material people should read.

Alison Luhrs came in swinging a steel chair of an Epilogue (Part 1) today! I'm really hoping for a follow-up to this episode to catch up on Alison's Epilogue!

Just as a fun fact for anyone curious since the crew here brought it up, Kaervek is still alive because his prison tower was phased out along with the rest of Zhalfir when teferi phased them out (same reason Jolrael is still alive) and he returned (and promptly escaped) when Zhalfir was brought back via swapping places with new Phyrexia.

I like the idea that the Rakdos cult was doing all the crazy murder to keep Rakdos asleep but he finally woke up and was like "guys you don't have to kill him the knife juggling is pretty cool"

Kellan in LCI: enters stage left "oh hi guys, whatcha doin? Sounds fun! Welp gotta go!" Exits stage right

Ixalan vampires are unharmed by the sun, almost every Legion of Dusk card was set in daytime

"Sens8" mentioned!!!

I still believe, given the art, and the fact that Jace isn't the only telepath, and even hinted at the end of MKM, that the person who intruded wasn't Jace, but Lazav entering and stealing secrets from Proft's mind. If you compare the art, it's even more strongly suggested. I just think Not Everything Has To Be Jace, you know?

If possible I would love if you could at least have part of the next TTC to talk about the epilogue that you weren’t able to cover. Thanks again for all you do!

The thumbnail on this one is just *chef's kiss*

You guys do look better now. Good job taking care of yourselves. You deserve it

To Kellan: "You'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts."

I wait for the day they do a music/opera plane where Rakdos can be truly entertained and embrace his inner theater nerd. He seems like he would enjoy the Carmina Burana, O Fortuna.

I miss the mtg novels. I was on the JacexLiliana ship for a long time because of how well their relationship was written in Agents of Artifice.

I like how Magda, who doesn't appear in the Kaldheim story, has a brand new card in OTJ; even though she isn't in this story either.

Rakdos is awake from his nap and finally has the opportunity to perform for an entirely new audience, away from his cult and troupe.

I expected from Kellan reaction to Ashiok something like "You cannot trust them. Thay almost destroy Eldraine" and Oko like "Well, I also tried".

The thing that bothers me about the mishmash of legends is that they don't NEED to make them all lore-compliant. Sure, give them new cards to sell packs, but let the story team work out if it's an "What if" scenario or if they're actually there! They could have both the vorthos and the people who only care about the cards happy. Also, what a great episode. Sense8 and Chrono Cross mentioned, people who genuinely care about the lore and can criticize the "seams" of the story and analyze its beats. I can't wait for the next lore TTC when they get to review the Epilogues (so far we've only got chapter 1 but THEY GOT ALISON LÜRS WRITING IT).

Hey! I live in tucson az, and i love it here. It is completely worth visiting! Nosebleeds be damned!

I found the story super fun and want a MOM style Rakdos and Tinybones team-up card

I think they did a pretty good job explaining why everyone was involved , but im guessing for some, now we know it was Jace, they werent so much convinced to join as compelled to want to. The so many dead bodies thing was also explained right after Gisa screeched about it, people bringing bodies with them from other planes. We also dont know that Jace and Vraska planeswalked, just that they vanished. Seems likely enough has just been using the omenpaths rather than suddenly can planeswalk people

Cameron looks amazing, handsome and scholarly … I did enjoy story

When I heard “king gizzard and the lizard wizard” I nearly fainted. I couldn’t adore you enough!! Then you gotta say that😭

As someone who was born in the desert with cowboys i can tell you thunder junction sounds like heaven. Any humitity in the air and i become a greasy mess

I love how the epilogue has answered several questions the crew ask, and made everything make a lot more sense. Also, and I say this because he's my favoured commander, Ghired going to TJ and the only explanation being his card's flavour text of "The Selesnya are pricks, the Gruul are nuts. That's an omenpath... I'm outta here." is really all I need.

500 TTCs? Feels like just yesterday I was watching the lot of you huddled around a table talking about your commander decks. Anyway, I think the Magic story's been in a pretty good place lately. MKM was very good and OTJ was than I expected. The Ashiok reveal genuinely got me. Though I do have to say, the high point was DEFINITELY Seanen McGuire getting to play with the Cecani twins again.

Know what I kinda wanna see now? Ashiok meeting up with Jace, to see how they feel about their gimmick getting stolen, and if they don't think it's funny, one of these two happening: Jace arrogantly believing his more general mind powers plus what he underwent on Phyrexia makes him more than a match for Ashiok, only for Ashiok to be all "oh, you think a little torture and mental talent means you understand fear? Biiiii--"; or Ashiok absolutely convinced that they're going to break Jace in the first clash only for Jace to prove rather more resilient to fear than they expect and then use his superior skill base to mess them up.

First time listening to TTC, excellent coverage of the story!

Random thought while listening to this and knowing nothing else about the story: this is a holodeck episode.

4:25 I was fully expecting Kathleen to remain on the topic of pores. "Hey, if you got any (pores), we would love to get..." them from you? :D

Geralf strikes me as a medic who you go to when you stub your toe and will then turn you into a zombie so that the pain of a stubbed toe or stepping on lego won't bother you as much anymore

As a passionate fan of Claude Shannon, I love you so freaking much. Thank you so soooooo much, Cameron

I think of Thunder Junction as Westworld meets Mos Eisley: the place where interplanar scum go to have a vacation on themselves and the expectations at their native planes and play cowboy tropes without real consequences

I agree Annie not seeing Jace sooner isn't a plot hole, but it is a plot contrivance. This is our first story with her and we are shown she is cautious, and slow to trust, and she already knows Oko uses illusions, it feels like the only reason she doesn't give everyone a once over is so they can have the reveal later

Congratulations on 500!

1:22:00 I would laugh to see KellanQuest for his dad turn into OkoQuest for debt repayment.

Congrats on 500!!! I am also on the camp of hating Jace until the ixalan story. But his interactions with Vraska, Gideon and Liliana were so good I was kinda missing him in the story

April Fool's! There's more story! (It's a Jace/Vraska epilogue from between the end of ONE and MOM)

kathleen, Ashiok was also banished from New Phyrexia by Elesh Norn for exposing that she could have a nightmare (in the leadup to March of the Machine). (timestamp 50:00)

As partially vorthosian person, I am not necessarily against Jace's return (especially if his phyresis was very impactful and consequential). However, it was quite disappointing to me that we did not get to see Ashiok scheming and getting something they want.

I think after so many thousands of years trying to Entertain a sleeping demon, that mortal imagination slipped and the Rakdos decided to go all murder-carnival thinking that was the only thing that could excite him anymore.

Karovek was in Zhalfir, and managed to escape when Teferi unphased it.

Started on Spotify and finished on KZfaq when I got home, just to get the full experience. :D Though I've got to say, having TTC lined up straight after QWERPLINE is a hell of a ride. I keep being unsure whether I should actually take what Graham says seriously, and it doesn't feel right that the sponsor doesn't rhyme and isn't read by Beej. Consider: "Card Kingdom's smart bling-tonne of art- 'n' ink-fun Buy yourself 1000 kilos of expensive magic stuff at well-organised paper royalty! Card Kingdom's smart bling-tonne of art- 'n' ink-fun From Seattle, Washington."

Mark Rosewater confirmed on Tumblr that there was a cancelled Aftermath set for Thunder Junction. Jace was meant to be in it, which is why his Collector Number is out of order for a blue card

Rakdos in this set felt like Thanos from the “What if Tchalla became star lord”.

I really badly want to hear Kathleen gosh about the epilogue story from this set now

Counterpoint: I think Jace's character rehabilitation started in Shadows/BFZ. We got to see him work in a party setting and it really opened us up to who he REALLY is

Happy 500th episode! 🎉

Omg 500 episodes! 💜

Watching this after reading the epilogue chapter 2. Man that chapter filled in a bunch of holes.

Oh lets go, i was waiting for this. Love these episodes

Always a fan of these Vorthos episodes!

I do think magic in general got gunshy about doing books after the repeating fumble that was War of the Spark. Namely I remember people complaining that it was in one book that they had to pay for, that it was in two parts and yet still felt rushed, that both the book and the cards had conflicting visions on events, and that's not even including the ChandraXNissa stuff or the fact that the fallout was so bad they had to basically retcon it away (Like they've had to for like almost every book they've ever done), and the fact that they took a break from telling stories at all for the next few sets. That said I do think the idea of releasing books have potential. I would really like a combination of artbook like they did with amonkhet and stuff with besically the "directors cut" of the story giving the writers space to play more while still uploading the shorter version on the mothership. Hell, I'd love a book that's just all the magic short stories of one stretch of time collected into an anthology-esque book.

Karevk got released from his amber prison on zalfir during the story of it reconnecting

Didn't expect a Chrono Cross reference but here for it

Oh the new epilogue stories just dropped and and it is a mix of cutest couple ever and oh no my faves are going to become the next big bad

I always said that the Jace hate had nothing to do with his character and everything to do with him getting a busted planeswalker card in Jace the Mindsculptor.

4:29 My brain autocompleted Kathleen's sentence with "your pores" Also, as someone who sweats the way that Graham and Jacob do, I feel no insecurity in stating that moisturizer is likely not enough for any of us to survive on Thunder Junction. I drink several gallons of water a day and still find myself thirsty on the regular.

Happy 500th! 🎉🎉🎉

My one complaint about the Jace reveal is that I wanted Ashiok Ashiok, but I understand they didn't want to keep Jace out while leaving some really big questions about Vraska.

I love these lore episodes, they’re a great way to digest the story. I would love if Kathleen went back and did a retrospective on earlier stories like she mentioned! (DMU was a bit of a sleeper imo)

"Saddle by", appearing on a card near you soon.

On the one hand, Cam's right, and we should get back to Bundles having books in them. On the other hand, the web stories can be much closer written to "time of release", as it were, and less stress need be had between "an author might spoil a story thing" and the company that one time employed a non-zero number of pinkertons for spoiling something.

Speaking of looking, I saw a really old episode of Friday Nights that had Wheeler in it. (So glad he was there thank you for having him.) Oh he was just a scrawny babby. Like a normally fluffy furred animal had just been shaved. He looks very good now! Personally I think Graham looked pretty spiffy with the cueball look, but I can understand those were otherwise not memories he'd want to relive.

i think Cam, Kath and G is the best trio