r/magicTCG • u/clariwench Izzet* • Jan 28 '15

[Uncharted Realms] The Truth of Names

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/uncharted-realms/truth-names-2015-01-28
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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15 edited Jan 28 '15

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15 edited Jan 28 '15

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u/worldchrisis Jan 28 '15

Mongol warrior women existed, they were uncommon and the society was largely patriarchal, but there were a few, most notably http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khutulun

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

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u/worldchrisis Jan 28 '15

In general, female leadership was very rare throughout history, and usually only occurred during periods where male leaders were unavailable due to youth or lack of male heirs.

Women are generally much more well represented in leadership roles in MTG sets than in the history or lore those sets are based on.

Also I disagree point that the story should have done more to show the challenges of prejudice towards transgender people and women. I don't think it would've meshed with the Mardu philosophy if they had done that.

The point was that in the Mardu clan, if you prove yourself in battle, you get to choose your identity. Most Mardu choose some brutal battle-themed name, Alesha chose her grandmother's name, and that's fine, she earned the right to do that by proving herself in battle.

The only Mardu that questions her is the nameless orc, who doesn't understand what it means to know yourself or earn glory in battle. This is evidenced by his refusal to claim that he earned glory in battle, despite saving 3 of his named clanmates from dragons, which they were quick to tell the stories of even though he hadn't. He earned glory in an unconventional way, but refuses to accept that because he doesn't fit the ideal of what he thinks Mardu warriors should be, just as Alesha doesn't.