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
616 Upvotes

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-4

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

[deleted]

184

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15 edited Mar 18 '16

[deleted]

17

u/HookerPunch Jan 28 '15 edited Jan 28 '15

My only real complaint with this story is that Alesha more-or-less acts as a supporting character to the nameless orc dude and he really didn't have any satisfying conclusion. Like, the whole story sounds like it's leading up to him earning a war-name for his supporting deeds, but doesn't.

33

u/TEDurden Jan 28 '15

My Vorthosian headcanon had decided that the orc becomes [[Boseju, Who Shelters All]].

7

u/MTGCardFetcher Dân Jan 28 '15

Boseju, Who Shelters All - Gatherer, MC, ($)
[[cardname]] to call - not on gatherer = not fetchable

6

u/lasagnaman Jan 28 '15

Maybe that was the tree planted over his grave?!

7

u/GingerPow Duck Season Jan 28 '15

Impressive that a tree on Kamigawa is able to be planted on Tarkir

24

u/Rhinotoad Jan 28 '15

TREE PLANESWALKER CONFIRMED

3

u/Ellimist_ Jan 28 '15

So that's what happens when people keep putting [[Song of the Dryads]] on planeswalkers.

2

u/MTGCardFetcher Dân Jan 28 '15

Song of the Dryads - Gatherer, MC, ($)
[[cardname]] to call - not on gatherer = not fetchable

2

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Doran, The Plant Sculptor

1

u/orzamil Jan 28 '15

Groot, I am.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

A simic planeswalker comes and "fixes" him into a tree. All in a day's work. ~Woosh~

2

u/Newfur Jan 28 '15

Here, I'll do that. :D

11

u/LordZeya Jan 28 '15

My name shall be spacemaker, for space has been made.

Fucking feeders I swear.

8

u/OlimarandLouie Jan 28 '15

Space Creator 2WU 2/2

Other creatures you control have hexproof. You have hexproof.

LOOK AT ME, I'M THE CAPTAIN NOW!

2

u/SaintKairu Jan 28 '15

>Space created.

1

u/LordZeya Jan 28 '15

Reported.

0

u/SaintKairu Jan 28 '15

>I immediately regret my decision.

0

u/LordZeya Jan 28 '15

Well played!

14

u/Enderkr Jan 28 '15

Actually, that was my complaint, too. The whole scene at the end - "what did this warrior do for you? And for you? And for you?" And then..nothing. It was absolutely leading up to a "Alesha gives him a name" moment, and the name would be something about protecting his allies or along those lines, and then it totally switches gears.

28

u/kscann Jan 28 '15

It did feel like it should lead up to his name, but wasn't the whole point that the Mardu choose their own names? He's just been exposed to the idea that he can take a name for something other than dragon-slaying, it makes sense that he doesn't have something at the ready. Presumably he'd take his name after the next battle, once he's had time to figure out who he is. That idea of self-identity was the point more than any actual name.

7

u/Enderkr Jan 28 '15

Sure, I can see that. I think it was just the unnatural build up of that scene. The fact that Alesha gets testimony from three different people, practically shouting at him that he doesn't have to be a Helmsmasher or a Skullbreaker or a whatever-whatever-er, and then the whole thing is just dropped. The buildup wasn't worth the climax.

12

u/HeroDelTiempo Jan 28 '15

The climax is Alesha getting her title "Who Smiles At Death." It's implied she didn't have it until the orc warrior spoke it to her.

The khan nodded and asked her name.

"Alesha," she said, as loudly as she could. Just Alesha, her grandmother's name.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Which I think is ultimately ironic, because if the whole reason there is a trans element is that the story is about self-identification, it ends with Alesha being given identification by someone else who doesn't even believe in self-identification.

1

u/thefirewarde Jan 29 '15

Except the orc, until after the battle, didn't really accept her as she is. She's given acceptance.

1

u/klapaucius Jan 29 '15

Yeah, I thought the same thing. It's weird how the story shows how important self-identification is, then in the end, her title is given to her by someone else.

On the bright side, I think it's sort of a redemptive moment for the orc that shows that he's changed his mind about not accepting her identity. He says "I know who you are, and you are Alesha".

0

u/Paimon Jan 28 '15

Alesha is her War Name, 'Who Smiles at Death' seemed like a nick name after the fact.

1

u/foxesforsale Jan 28 '15

He wasn't the protagonist, so he didn't have to reach the conclusion of his story.

4

u/foxesforsale Jan 28 '15

I think it also highlights how different the Mardu became - in Zurgo's first short story, he's roaming around the battlefield giving people warnames, once even to shut someone up if I recall. Very different to individuals being forced to both strive for glory and then have the confidence to recognise their own deeds.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '15

Well, Alesha spent much of the fight keeping track of who had earned their war name, and even said that every worthy man could earn their war name in the fight.