MTG Comics Reread: Fallen Empires
Since the Armada MTG comics were not published in chronological story order, there is a gap of about 140 years between the end of the Brothers’ War and when Fallen Empires takes place. As I alluded to in my last entry, this means we miss the sylex blast that eventually causes Dominaria’s climate to change and instead skip ahead to the Fallen Empires story.
As I recently learned, Fallen Empires takes place within a larger era known as Dominaria’s Dark Age. (I previously thought these two eras were distinct from one another.) According to the generally accepted timeline, this period begins with the sylex blast in 64 A.R. (Argivian Reckoning) and ends when the Ice Age commences in 450 A.R. According to John Tynes’ essay in the back of issue 1, the Fallen Empires comic takes place 100 years after the sylex blast, making it about 165-170 A.R.
There were no comic titles planned (to my knowledge) that would have covered the rest of the Dark Ages leading up to the Ice Age.
Interestingly, the Fallen Empires comic is still considered canon. Unlike the Brothers’ War, no stories were later published to override what happens here. That makes this an important title because it serves as a quasi-origin story for the villain Tevesh Szat.
Fallen Empires was published in September and October 1995. Issue 1 was packaged with a full booster pack of Fallen Empires. Issue 2 included a set of heavy cardboard tokens.
STORY SYNOPSIS
The warrior Tymolin Loneglade becomes the lynchpin of a conflict that will not only bring about the fall of the tribal communities of Sarpadia, but also a war between Planeswalkers that will last millennia.
CREATIVES
Armada Editor Jeff Gomez co-wrote this series with Kevin Maples.
Following his editorial stint at Acclaim’s comic book division, Gomez co-founded Starlight Runner Entertainment with Mark Pensavalle in 2000. This production company transforms intellectual property into transmedia franchises — such as toys, animation, or videogames titles — that extend the narrative across multiple platforms. In this role, Gomez has worked on such universes as Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean and Tron; Microsoft’s Halo; James Cameron’s Avatar; Hasbro’s Transformers; and Mattel’s Hot Wheels.
Maples was a brand manager at Wizards of the Coast from 1994-99 before moving into teaching. He is currently a religious instructor in Kentucky.
Alex Maleev (Arabian Nights) did the pencils, which were inked by Rodney Ramos (Arabian Nights).
Michael Tuccinard (Arabian Nights) served as colorist.
Anson Maddocks painted the covers of both issues. Maddocks was one of the original 25 Magic: The Gathering artists and contributed more than 100 pieces of card art during his tenure with the company. While he no longer actively works on the game, he keeps in touch with the community through GPs and personal commissions.
LORE
Fallen Empires focuses mostly on Tymolin Loneglade and her brother Tev. Tev Loneglade, who goes on to become the villain Tevesh Szat, is a Planeswalker. Tymolin is not. She has, however, enjoyed an extremely extended lifespan thanks to a powerful enchantment cast by Tev.
Based on dialogue cues from the story, we know that Tymolin is the younger of the two siblings. Tymolin and Tev grew up together near the Sarpadian coast. They are both at least 2,000 years old at the time of this story.
At the start of the comic, Tymolin is in a romantic relationship with the dwarf Kaylen of the Sarpadian Mountains. Some outside sources identify them as husband and wife, but there is no mention of this in the comic.
Tymolin also had a love affair with the religious zealot Oliver Farrel sometime in the past. Their breakup prompted Farrel to begin spreading rumors that Tymolin was the living incarnation of the dark god Tourach and that she should be killed. Farrel takes being jilted to the next level.
At one point, Tev mentions that he could have interfered in the conflict between Urza and Mishra. “I should have forced those two upstarts to throw their tantrums elsewhere,” he says.
This strikes me as particularly interesting because it not only gives us a clue as to Tev’s level of power, but also means that a Planeswalker was present on Dominaria, knew about the Brothers’ War and chose to do nothing about it.
The last piece of really interesting lore concerns one of the side characters: Master Scout Loren of the Havenwood Elves. Loren’s father, who is not identified by name in the comic, is credited with creating the race of Thallids. That means that Loren’s father is Thelon of Havenwood.
MISCELLANEOUS
The amulet that Farrel claims to have taken from a member of the Order of the Ebon Hand matches the shield on the Ron Spencer printing of that card’s namesake.
Issue 1 features a full-page ad for The Duelist magazine.
In his essay on the history of Fallen Empires at the end of issue 1, John Tynes writes, “[The development team] designed Fallen Empires to cluster around the median of card power, and to avoid both spoiler cards and useless cards. This design reflects their philosophy: that Magic: The Gathering should be a game of subtle cunning and constant transformation, rather than a mindless slam-happy game of brute force, where the player with the biggest wallet always wins.” I’ll let others debate how well they succeeded.
Issue 2 features ads for both the Ice Age and Chronicles expansions, which had been released a few months earlier in the summer of 1995.
Issue 2 includes a note to join the official Magic fan club: the Duelists’ Convocation. The cost to join was $18. The Duelists’ Convocation International would later become simply DCI, the official sanctioning body of competitive MTG play. It’s unclear if this fee was for a “Legends Membership,” which was supposedly $30 at the time.
Issue 2 features a full-page piece of art by Carlos Phoenix Jimenez. Jimenez is a classically trained illustrator who originally produced freelance sci-fi and fantasy art before moving into marketing, social media, and online content creation. He is also the brand ambassador for the Georgia Latino Film Festival.
As I recently learned, Fallen Empires takes place within a larger era known as Dominaria’s Dark Age. (I previously thought these two eras were distinct from one another.) According to the generally accepted timeline, this period begins with the sylex blast in 64 A.R. (Argivian Reckoning) and ends when the Ice Age commences in 450 A.R. According to John Tynes’ essay in the back of issue 1, the Fallen Empires comic takes place 100 years after the sylex blast, making it about 165-170 A.R.
There were no comic titles planned (to my knowledge) that would have covered the rest of the Dark Ages leading up to the Ice Age.
Interestingly, the Fallen Empires comic is still considered canon. Unlike the Brothers’ War, no stories were later published to override what happens here. That makes this an important title because it serves as a quasi-origin story for the villain Tevesh Szat.
Fallen Empires was published in September and October 1995. Issue 1 was packaged with a full booster pack of Fallen Empires. Issue 2 included a set of heavy cardboard tokens.
STORY SYNOPSIS
The warrior Tymolin Loneglade becomes the lynchpin of a conflict that will not only bring about the fall of the tribal communities of Sarpadia, but also a war between Planeswalkers that will last millennia.
CREATIVES
Armada Editor Jeff Gomez co-wrote this series with Kevin Maples.
Following his editorial stint at Acclaim’s comic book division, Gomez co-founded Starlight Runner Entertainment with Mark Pensavalle in 2000. This production company transforms intellectual property into transmedia franchises — such as toys, animation, or videogames titles — that extend the narrative across multiple platforms. In this role, Gomez has worked on such universes as Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean and Tron; Microsoft’s Halo; James Cameron’s Avatar; Hasbro’s Transformers; and Mattel’s Hot Wheels.
Maples was a brand manager at Wizards of the Coast from 1994-99 before moving into teaching. He is currently a religious instructor in Kentucky.
Alex Maleev (Arabian Nights) did the pencils, which were inked by Rodney Ramos (Arabian Nights).
Michael Tuccinard (Arabian Nights) served as colorist.
Anson Maddocks painted the covers of both issues. Maddocks was one of the original 25 Magic: The Gathering artists and contributed more than 100 pieces of card art during his tenure with the company. While he no longer actively works on the game, he keeps in touch with the community through GPs and personal commissions.
LORE
Fallen Empires focuses mostly on Tymolin Loneglade and her brother Tev. Tev Loneglade, who goes on to become the villain Tevesh Szat, is a Planeswalker. Tymolin is not. She has, however, enjoyed an extremely extended lifespan thanks to a powerful enchantment cast by Tev.
Based on dialogue cues from the story, we know that Tymolin is the younger of the two siblings. Tymolin and Tev grew up together near the Sarpadian coast. They are both at least 2,000 years old at the time of this story.
At the start of the comic, Tymolin is in a romantic relationship with the dwarf Kaylen of the Sarpadian Mountains. Some outside sources identify them as husband and wife, but there is no mention of this in the comic.
Tymolin also had a love affair with the religious zealot Oliver Farrel sometime in the past. Their breakup prompted Farrel to begin spreading rumors that Tymolin was the living incarnation of the dark god Tourach and that she should be killed. Farrel takes being jilted to the next level.
At one point, Tev mentions that he could have interfered in the conflict between Urza and Mishra. “I should have forced those two upstarts to throw their tantrums elsewhere,” he says.
This strikes me as particularly interesting because it not only gives us a clue as to Tev’s level of power, but also means that a Planeswalker was present on Dominaria, knew about the Brothers’ War and chose to do nothing about it.
The last piece of really interesting lore concerns one of the side characters: Master Scout Loren of the Havenwood Elves. Loren’s father, who is not identified by name in the comic, is credited with creating the race of Thallids. That means that Loren’s father is Thelon of Havenwood.
MISCELLANEOUS
The amulet that Farrel claims to have taken from a member of the Order of the Ebon Hand matches the shield on the Ron Spencer printing of that card’s namesake.
Issue 1 features a full-page ad for The Duelist magazine.
In his essay on the history of Fallen Empires at the end of issue 1, John Tynes writes, “[The development team] designed Fallen Empires to cluster around the median of card power, and to avoid both spoiler cards and useless cards. This design reflects their philosophy: that Magic: The Gathering should be a game of subtle cunning and constant transformation, rather than a mindless slam-happy game of brute force, where the player with the biggest wallet always wins.” I’ll let others debate how well they succeeded.
Issue 2 features ads for both the Ice Age and Chronicles expansions, which had been released a few months earlier in the summer of 1995.
Issue 2 includes a note to join the official Magic fan club: the Duelists’ Convocation. The cost to join was $18. The Duelists’ Convocation International would later become simply DCI, the official sanctioning body of competitive MTG play. It’s unclear if this fee was for a “Legends Membership,” which was supposedly $30 at the time.
Issue 2 features a full-page piece of art by Carlos Phoenix Jimenez. Jimenez is a classically trained illustrator who originally produced freelance sci-fi and fantasy art before moving into marketing, social media, and online content creation. He is also the brand ambassador for the Georgia Latino Film Festival.
No comments have been added yet.
