MTG: Official Kaldheim Cinematic Gets Extended Cut
Magic: The Gathering has a new set out now – Kaldheim. To celebrate the release, Wizards of the Coast has a new, extended trailer to show off!
Everyone loves a fancy cinematic, right? Well here’s the new and extended one for Kaldheim:
Cool, right? Lots of fancy lights, fighting and …things happening! But without much dialog it can be a little confusing following what’s going on – especially if you’re not really familiar with the Kaldheim setting. So let’s (hopefully) explain a few things.
Kaldheim – A Primer
Kaldheim is basically MTG’s take on Norse mythology. At least at a very broad level. They’ve got a world tree and ten realms and everything:
They even have Alrund, God of the Cosmos who is totally Not-Odin:
Alrund, God of the Cosmos | Art by: Kieran Yanner
Anyhow, if you at least have a very basic grasp of Norse mythology that’s a start – but again, this is Magic: The Gathering, so it’s got that planeswalker twist. In the cinematic, we basically have some action scenes happening with a trio of characters we need to know about. First up is Kaya the Inexorable:
Kaya the Inexorable | Art by: Tyler Jacobson
Kaya is the one whacking all those trolls and glowing purple. More on those trolls later, anyhow, she’s working with another character who’s on a boat – that’s Inga Rune-Eyes:
Inga Rune-Eyes | Art by: Bram Sels
Rune-Eyes is sailing toward a massive wolf, which I believe is Sarulf, also known as the Dread-Wolf or the Realm Eater. Sarulf is a Cosmic Monster and has some special properties as you saw in the video.
The final person of interest in the video is Tibalt, Cosmic Imposter:
Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor | Art by: Yongjae Choi
Tibalt has been running around, as his name implies, pretending to be other beings. Identity Theft is a problem, Jim. One of the beings he’s been impersonating is Valki, God of Lies:
Valki, God of Lies | Art by: Yongjae Choi
What does this have to do with the fancy sword he was using? Well that’s a magical sword made of Tyrite which is the hardened sap of the World Tree. One of those properties (at least when forged into this particular sword) is that it can open paths between realms (totally not Heimdall’s Sword from the MCU). Fittingly, it’s called “The Sword of Realms.”
How did he get his hand on the Sword? There’s a funny story about that…
The Trickster-God’s Heist | Art by: Randy Vargas
Yep. That pretty much sums that up. Now that Tibalt has the Sword of Realms, he’s running amok. Opening Portals so that Cosmic Serpents can feast on Starnheim. And just generally causing problems.
Open the Omenpaths | Art by: Eric Deschamps
That’s basically what’s going on in the cinematic. Tibalt has opened up a new path to the Demon’s Realm. And he’s got those Trolls running in with him. Kaya is going after him – and that’s essentially where the cinematic stops.
Hopefully that explains at least some of the cinematic. There’s LOTS more to the story if you want to read all the published lore (so far), you can check it out in order at the links below:
- EPISODE 1: TRAVELERS
- EPISODE 2: AWAKEN THE TROLLS
- EPISODE 3: THE SAGA OF TIBALT
- EPISODE 4: INTO THE DEMONS’ REALM
- EPISODE 5: THE BATTLE FOR KALDHEIM
There are also five more side stories that help fill in some blanks and introduce even more lore and characters:
- KNOW WHICH WAY THE WIND IS BLOWING
- AIM THROUGH THE TARGET
- BROKENBROW
- DIRECTION. PURPOSE. HONOR. GLORY.
- THE SAGA OF LATHRIL
So that’s one massive world tree of lore to read if you really want to get into the story of Kaldheim!
“We’ve got to get that sword away from him.”
~Kaya the Inexorable, Into The Demon’s Realm
