The Newfound Horrors Brought on by Lorwyn and Shadowmoor
Over the past few days I have been somewhat obsessed with Magic the Gathering's "A Boggart Ballad" on YouTube. If you haven't seen it yet, please go and spend the 3+ minutes to go and watch it. Getting to see such masterful work done by the talented individuals at the Jim Henson Company was a welcome way to begin this new year. Since seeing the ballad, I have been delving a little bit into the lore of Magic's upcoming Lorwyn set.
CREDITS: Directed by Brian Henson Produced by Brian Henson, Vince Raisa, Rita Peruggi Written by and lyrics by Eliza Skinner Music Composed by Tim Young and Scott Seiver Cinematography by Sam Nicholson Production Design by Darcy Prevost Edited by Julian Bridges Visual Effects by Stargate Studios Creatures by The Jim Henson Creature Shop Starring: Kevin Clash as Cragg Ben Schrader as Squen Donna Kimball as Moire the Slug, Cragg facial features, Backup Dancer Drew Massey as Snake, Squen facial features, Backup Dancer Raymond Carr as Squen puppeteer assist, Backup Dancer, Frog Grant Baciocco as Cragg puppeteer assist, Backup Dancer, Frog
A Plane of Light and Shadow
Put simply, Lorwyn and Shadowmoor are one conjoined plane of existence where the former is always sunny and the latter is perpetually dark. That aesthetic alone is intriguing and a great premise for a high fantasy Magic set. Where the horror of all this comes into play is the idea that someone travelling from Lorwyn to Shadowmoor and vice versa will fundamentally change into an alternate form. Any memories from the previous plane will be repressed and/or altered. So not only will they be changed, they will forget who they were in their previous realm and remember who they are and were in their current one.
Reflections in A Boggart Ballad
With this in mind, the Boggart Ballad doesn't depict two different main characters but rather two different forms of the same person. The video intentionally mirrors each character that shows up as well. Moira and Snake are mirrored by their dialogue reminding Squen/Cragg of their respective planes' constant day/night nature. The backup singers also have their alternate forms and are clearly meant to be opposites of each other. If you pay attention to the backdrop at about 2:55 onward, even the bats in the background of the video change into their opposing Lorwyn forms. The only ones in the video who don't get a mirrored version are Cragg's victims in the first verse.
Identity, Memory, and Moral Horror
The fact that Squen/Cragg desire to explore their opposing sides begs many questions. How many times have they travelled between realms without feeling any catharsis from exploring the other side? How many times have they forgotten who they were and remembered a different version of themselves? They both clearly get into their own mischief on either side with Squen's pilfering and Cragg's violent pillaging, but what unknown friends and enemies have they made on either realm? What people have they forgotten entirely? The idea that one's nature could be flipped on its head simply by travelling is a disturbing one. What places/situations could a person be displaced to that would cause them to do things they never thought they were morally capable of? What parts of a person remain constant no matter where they go?
Eclipsed Realms and Existential Loss
In the final lines of the Boggart Ballad, Squen and Cragg both ask themselves, "and how will I ever see the other side of me? What if I never get to be completely me?" Unfortunately, the answer to the first question is, in Lorwyn/Shadowmoor, if one wants to experience both sides, they must go to eclipsed realms where the divide between the two isn't so clear. As for the second question, if one spends too much time in an eclipsed realm they become eclipsed themselves and lose every part of who they are. In pursuing their entire self, they end up losing it all. In essence, if one wants to be completely themselves in this plane, their Jekyll and Hyde aspects will not mix and will catastrophically contradict each other. This inclusion of eclipsed realms in the Lorwyn lore is particularly horrifying.
Final Thoughts
The premise of Lorwyn Eclipsed and the questions implied by it provide both intrigue and existential horror. The decision to hire the Jim Henson Company to portray such a whimsical and dark fantasy setting was a brilliant and unexpected one. In a world where many Magic sets are outside IPs and corporate products it is encouraging to see a set with such heart and care put into it. I hope this little article helped you process and understand Lorwyn in the way that it helped me. I know I'm excited to experience this set at prerelease next week and I hope you are too!
