Timeline

Not only do I intend to review all stories of the Magic canon, I'm also going to see how they all fit together in one huuuuuuge timeline. I already made a Magic timeline once, over on MTGSalvation (It was the basis for the timeline on the MTGSally wiki.) As I've said before though, I'm not that happy with that version anymore. It contains mistakes, it is incomplete, and worst of all, I didn't bother with annotations. That has made revisions to the project very difficult down the line. Since then I've gotten my Masters degree in History however, and if there is one thing I've learned at uni it's the importance of annotations. So every entry on this new timeline will contain a link to the review in which its placement is discussed. As my project progresses, so will the timeline grow.

Be aware that this is very much a work in progress, with several stories placed provisionally until I am able to review other stories that might influence their placement.

Every entry here contains a link to the relevant review. If the timeline placement is discussed in a different review I have added a link to that one as well, in brackets. The placement of sets up to Scourge is based on the official Wizards of the Coast timeline. Later sets have been placed roughly at the right time to provide context.

The Official MTG Timeline

Today I uploaded my review of Final Sacrifice, In it I explain how we can put an accurate date to the first four novels of the Harper Prism line. So from now on, I will not only be reviewing stories, I'll also maintain a timeline to show how they all fit together. The timeline will be uploaded shortly after this post.

To give some context to the first few entries though, I thought I'd first show you an official, WotC-made timeline. We've already discussed the earliest one, from the Fourth Edition Players' Guide, but there is a far more detailed timeline out there. For years Wizards of the Coast kept stock of when their stories happened on their website, but around Onslaught block they lost interest in the specifics of the story, and from Mirrodin onwards the timeline was forgotten. Eventually they overhauled their website, and in the process the timeline was lost. Except it wasn't! Thanks to the miracle of the Internet Wayback Machine we can actually still find this timeline! Let's have a look at it. All dates are given in AR (Argivian Reckoning). 0 AR is the year Urza and Mishra were born.

Final Sacrifice

Final Sacrifice

Written by Clayton Emery

Published by Harper Prism, 1995

SUMMARY

Our heroes have grown up. Last novel started with them barely holding their own in battle, this time was start with three straight chapters of them plowing through various evil wizards. Gull seems to have settled into his role as a general, which he's enjoying a lot more now he's having some success. All the fighting is taking its toll on Greensleeves though. She longs for peace and for time with her lover Kwam. She's supposed to regularly summon the wizards they defeated and tagged with the Stone Brain, but often she is to tired to even do that. Her stress is only made worse by Chaney. The druid died of old age at the end of Shattered Chains, but now she's taken to visiting Greensleeves as a shade, making cryptic allusions to her having to make "the final sacrifice" (*ding*, title drop!)

Back on the tropical island seen in Whispering Woods, the defeated wizards have grouped together. Towser, on of the few who hasn't been tagged, is now their leader. He has stolen and copied Greensleeves Nova Pentacle, which will prevent the wearer from being summoned. In addition he has a Keldon Warlord, an incredibly capable warrior who also has some sort of rage inducing power. He gets all the servants on the island to slaughter their families as a power showcase. The warlord also has an obsession with killing Gull for some reason.

On the cover he looks slightly more realistic.

Shattered Chains

Shattered Chains

Written by Clayton Emery

Published by Harper Prism, 1995

SUMMARY

Several months have passed since the end of Whispering Woods, but Greensleeves and Gull aren´t getting anywhere. They are attracting plenty of people who are willing to fight wizards, but barely any of them are combat trained, so the army just keeps stumbling from one narrow escape to the other. Still, their fame has spread, and the rulers of Benalia decide to nip this crusade in the bud before it can get its act together. Luckily for our heroes though, the leading politician decides to mix some personal revenge into the plan. Noreen (from Arena) had refused his advances in the past, so he sends her to kill Gull and Greensleeves, taking her child hostage to force her to comply. Noreen, whose real name turns out to be Rakel, infiltrates the army, but quickly develops sympathy for their cause. She’s had some bad experiences with wizards herself in Arena, and in the intervening years Garth has become struck by planeswalker-wanderlust and often abandons her for long stretches of time. Unwilling to go through with her orders she ends up training the army into an effective fighting force.

Whispering Woods

Whispering Woods

Written by Clayton Emery

Published by Harper Prism, 1994

SUMMARY

Gull the woodcutter and his sister Greensleeves (who can't talk, only chatter like animals) are the only ones left in the ruins of their village. Two mages came by, fought each other, and turned their village into collateral damage when one of them cast Earthquake. Most of the villagers were then killed with Pestilence. The other survivors moved away, so now the two hang around with some summoned creatures that got left behind. Then one of the mages, a guy called Towser, shows up. He claims the destruction was wrought by his opponent and that he can send the summoned creatures back to their homes. He seemingly does so, and convinces Gull to get a job caring for the horses in his caravan. While working for Towser Gull makes some enemies, some friends, finds a lover in the "dancing girl" Lily, helps uncover a Mana Vault, gets smack-bang in the middle of another magical duel when another mage tries to claim said Vault, and most surprisingly: discovers that his sister isn't mad after all, it was just the magic of the Whispering Woods next to their village that overwhelmed her mind as a child.

Arena

Arena

Written by William R. Forstchen

Published by Harper Prism, 1994

SUMMARY

Our very first Magic novel! All this time we've been told "You are a planeswalker" when we learn the game, now we will finally see what that entails! Right? Well... the story is set in Estark, a city in which life revolves around the yearly festival in which wizards, not planeswalkers, battle in the eponymous arena. The city is nominally ruled by the Grand Master of the Arena, but he must always fight to keep the four great houses (more like wizarding guilds really) under control. The mob, overtaxed and bloodthirsty, is difficult to control as well. So when a mysterious wizard called Garth One-Eye turns up and starts causing fights between the houses, the Grand Master is not happy.

Hrm. So not only is this story not about planeswalkers, all the magic users are scumbags? Okay, interesting choice for your tie-in novel...

Pocket Players' Guide (Fourth Edition), the Timeline

As promised, here is the timeline from the Pocket Players' Guide. A day earlier than expected since I happened to stumble upon a complete write up while doing some more google research for my project. So with the help of one Tom de Ruyter and his website from the early days of the internet, I present to you: the oldest timeline in the Magic canon!

A Timeline of Dominaria
Article, author John Tynes (probably)
Originally appeared in the Pocket Players' Guide (Fourth Edition)

As always, click to enlarge the scan. Behind the jump break you'll find the original English text.