Episode 4 of the Tarkir: Dragonstorm story begins from Sarkhan’s perspective – the desparked planeswalker having been persuaded to follow Taigam to a promising reward.
According to Taigam, there was a ritual that, once completed, would allow Sarkhan to take flight in his dragon form once again, but would require a “strong heart” with a sacrifice that must be “…able to endure pain equivalent to what you’ve suffered over the years.”
Longing to become whole again, Sarkhan agrees to Taigam’s plan and sets off to hunt the heart of a dragon. In no time at all, he picks up on a trail, and stalks it to a grassy field. Finding the opportune moment, Sarkhan readies his spear and charges the wild dragon, moving his broken body out of instinct to dodge the beast’s claws and teeth. With a swift strike, Sarkhan fells the dragon and immediately hears Taigam instructing him to remove the dragon’s heart while it still beats.
Following the Jeskai monk’s instructions, Sarkhan begins to remove the dragon’s heart while Taigam recites an incantation. At the climax of the spell, the dragon’s heart glows blue and Sarkhan lowers his face into it to take a bite, at which point his “…world rippled into fire.”
Elsewhere in the same territory, Ajani had been hunting gazelle alongside the Abzan. The leonin warrior had noticed that the herd seemed more skittish and had wandered farther than normal, but suppressed his unease to focus on the hunt. Then, with little warning, a blast of powerful magic ripples across the plain, scattering the nearby wildlife and sending the Abzan’s dragon mounts into a frenzy. Confused, Ajani turns toward the direction of the magic, but it didn’t take long for his questions to be answered.
“…the answer rose into the horizon, a dragon of improbable size: red-scaled, triumphant, roaring as dozens of its smaller brethren rose to join it. There was something familiar about the behemoth. Ajani had seen it before, he was sure. More than that, he was certain he had lived this moment, too, had seen a flight of dragons come to a man’s call.”
Taigam’s magic had succeeded, and Sarkhan had transformed into a massive dragon, and in turn, all the dragons on Tarkir would recognize him as their leader.
Shifting focus to Elspeth and Narset, the pair’s investigation had brought them to the stormplains on the outskirts of Abzan territory, at which point they were promptly apprehended by Abzan scouts. Narset explains who they are and why they were there, but the scouts insist on bringing them in for questioning, as their Khan would punish them if they let the pair go.
Not wanting to cause political issues between clans, Narset agrees to be brought in, and before long she and Elspeth are brought before Felothar, the Abzan Khan, and her council.
After exchanging greetings, Narset immediately gets to business, explaining to Felothar that the dragonstorms are spreading across the multiverse and they are in a race against time to find the “temple in the storm.” Despite her pleas, various members of the council continue to interject, drawing out the political process with each new voice that speaks up.
Realizing no progress was being made, Elspeth turns to Narset and tells her they don’t have time for this, and readies herself to make an unauthorized exit, but before she can leave, Ajani bursts into the chamber, calling out to Felothar Khan.
“Felothar Khan,” boomed a familiar voice, its usual resonance frayed from terror. Ajani stalked into the room trailed by protesting Abzan officials. “Something monstrous has occurred. Sarkhan Vol has taken control of the wild dragons at the borders.”
Upon seeing Narset and Elspeth, Ajani’s voice trails off, with memories of their last encounter flooding back and filling the planeswalker with sadness and regret, but also relief, knowing they’re both well. Relieved to see her friend again, Elspeth starts a side dialogue with Ajani, attempting to recruit him into their cause, but quickly finds out how deep his guilt runs. Before their conversation can continue any farther, Felothar interjects and asks Ajani to tell her more about what he had seen at the borders.
Episode 5
The next episode picks up with Ajani sharing all that he had seen while out on the hunt. Finishing his story, he pleads with Felothar to allow Narset and Elspeth to continue their quest and save the politics until Sarkhan and the dragonstorms are quelled.
Thankfully, Felothar is convinced by Ajani’s words and instructs the trio to make their way to the Abzan quartermaster for provisioning while the rest of the clan moves to prepare for a potential onslaught from the growing dragon army.
With Ajani by their side, Narset and Elspeth are led down to the quartermaster. Along the way, Elspeth and Ajani continue to catch up, the old friends exchanging compliments and apologies alike. With memories of Phyrexia still fresh in his mind, Ajani cannot help but feel guilty being in the presence of a friend he tried to kill, but Elspeth reassures him that what transpired was not his fault.
“I understand plenty,” said the archangel, a hand outstretched. Her face thawed from its perfection; her expression grew earnest, hopeful. “More now than I ever have, perhaps. I’ve seen the Blind Eternities. I know how much the mortal heart longs to undo the past, to bring back what has been lost. But time only ever moves forward. The best thing we can do with tragedy is honor its lessons and carry them through the years. You were forgiven before our fight even began.”
Despite the reassurances from his friends, Ajani still declines the invitation to join their cause, and quickly makes his exit, leaving the pair to continue their mission, and after gathering supplies from the Abzan quartermaster, Narset and Elspeth depart for the stormplain in search of the temple rumored to be at the heart of the storm.
Upon reaching their destination, it doesn’t take long to locate one of the massive storms. More determined than ever, the pair rides directly into it, and despite the chaos around them, Narset spots a sliver of light and declares her intent to ride toward it, with Elspeth close behind.
“The two walked that way for a time, and the light in the distance grew, sending incandescent cracks through reality. Elspeth could not tell if they traveled for hours or days, or if it’d only been minutes since they entered the stormplains. Time compressed into the now and nothing else. But then, all at once, the chaos blinked to silence, leaving them stranded at the foot of what appeared to be a massive temple.”
Having finally located the temple, Narset takes out her journal and begins frantically taking notes on everything that she can while explaining to Elspeth that whatever this place was, it was unknown even to Ojutai’s archives.
With Narset consumed by her notes, Elspeth takes point in exploring the temple, leading the pair room to room until they come across a “subterranean antechamber and a portal within.”
“An Omenpath. But not like one I’ve ever seen before,” said Elspeth. It had the same coruscating light she recognized, as well as a vaguely triangular shape, but this one was ragged at the edges. The Omenpath resembled a wound gouged into reality, like something had bitten down and torn a hole through Tarkir itself.”
Without delay, the pair enter into the Omenpath and upon reaching the other side, find themselves in what Narset describes as the “Meditation Realm.” Despite remaining together in their journey through the Omenpath, Elspeth states that what she is seeing is different, leading the pair to conclude that wherever they are, there are two forces at work – one that wants them there and one that doesn’t.
Sticking together, the pair moves onward, with Narset climbing a labyrinth of stairs while Elspeth walks along an “expanse of endless water.” As they progress, reality distorts around them, accompanied by a pair of disembodied voices, one that seemed to be calling them closer and the other “…whispering a name over and over and over, promising it would do better, that it would fix everything.”
Then all at once, their surroundings became one and before them was Jace with loot in his arms. Noticing he was no longer alone, Jace greets his old comrades who are noticeably stunned to see him alive and well. Noticing their visible surprise, Jace explains how he managed to lock away his mind and isolate the phyresis in his body long enough to revert his condition.
Intrigued by his experience, Narset presses Jace for more information, but their conversation is cut short when Elspeth asks Jace what he’s doing there, to which he ominously replies “fixing my mistakes.” Speaking again, Elspeth inquires about the creature in Jace’s arms (Loot) and he explains that without Loot, he would never have been able to make it here.
“His mind is like nothing I’ve seen before. It contains all of the Multiverse, every Omenpath that exists, each plane as it exists and as it is born and as it dies. He is a map of everything. Loot is remarkable. I could spend centuries in his mind, putting his knowledge to paper, and, still, it wouldn’t be enough.”
Realizing that Jace was accessing Loot’s mind beyond what the creature could consent to, Narset and Elspeth again ask Jace what he’s doing there, to which the planeswalker just smiles and his eyes begin to glow. Elspeth draws her sword, ready for battle and Narset asks “What have you done, Jace?” to which he replies “What I needed to.”
Read Tarkir: Dragonstorm Episode 4 and Episode 5 in full from Wizards of the Coast.
