Shard of the Twelve Worlds

A synopsis of what is known, and which planes may have been within it, with new worlds 'fitting in' as a fan guess!  

The Golgothian Sylex was activated last by Urza, in the Brother's War's conclusion. The explosion was so powerful, it not only sunk the island of Argoth off the coast of Argive, but also split 12 planes off the rest of the multiverse, trapping them away from all other planes.  At this point, Dominaria was also the hub of the multiverse (then still known as Dominia), so it and 11 other worlds were cut asunder from the rest of the multiverse - with all the planeswalkers in these 12 world stuck in the shard - and no other walkers or portals able to reach them.  This article hopes to throw some fan theories on what may have happened on other planes, which modern planes may have been affected or part of the shard, and which old worlds may also have been connected. 

 

 

The Sylex blast, the Thaw, and the Mending

Short descriptions on each event's significance. Dominaria is a world wracked by apocalyptic events and recovery, but these events have affected other planes.  

The Sylex blast was unleashed by Urza activating the Golgothian Sylex not knowing what it would do; he was hoping it would give him power to defeat his brother once and for all.  And in some senses, it did.  Urza ascended as a planeswalker, and left the shard.  However, Dominaria and 11 other worlds were cut off from the rest of the multiverse due to this event.  He spent millennia trying to return, and was also working to stop the Phyrexian Invasion. 

The Great Thaw was an event started by Freyalise, a planeswalker trapped in the Shard of the 12 Worlds, which ended the Ice Age of Dominaria by casting The World Spell.  She used the Reflecting Mirror of Jodah in a ritual with the Fyndhorn elves to reunite the shard with the multiverse.  This was conjoined timing with the wandering plane, Shandalar, approaching the shard, allowing a reconnection with the multiverse, and allowing planeswalkers to escape the Shard. 

The Mending was an event thousands of years after the Sylex blast, and multiple other apocalyptic events.  It saw planeswalkers giving up their sparks to close rifts in space and time on Dominaria caused by the events of the past.  The Mending also started other healing processes on other worlds: Lorwyn-Shadowmoor, Ravnica, and started the aether boom on Kaladesh.  All planar portals shut down, planar traveling tech stopped working, and the planeswalker spark changed, no longer granting immortality and infinite power.  

 

Confirmed in the Shard:

Dominaria - The former hub of the multiverse, a wide, diverse continental plane, much like earth.  Multiple sets and stories have taken place there. It is the reason the shard happened, due to the brother's war. 

The Nether Void - The location of the battle between Leshrac, Kristina of the Woods, and Taysir, during the Summit of the Null Moon in the Ice Age comics. 

Azoria -  This is the plane where Tevesh Szat and Freyalise fought after the Summit of the Null Moon according to a 'known multiverse' article.  It was uninhabited by humans at the time, and all that was seen were a small string of islands.  

 

Possible planes in the Shard due to use in early and recent story:

We are including these planes as options for discussion, as most likely.  Many were designed far later than the Shard of the 12 worlds was created for the Comic series and characters, but much of the prerevisionist comics are still semi-canon, and return to us now in card form.  Therefore, these are planes that were visited in card sets that had events which may have been affected by being separated from the rest of the multiverse!

Mercadia – Very likely because it connects to Rath directly and was Phyrexian controlled. It also had a direct planar portal to Dominaria. 

Rath – Phyrexia’s Dominaria overlay world.  Perhaps Phyrexia created it because they were cut off from the plane of Dominaria by the planar portals, and so this was their plan to get into the shard of the 12 worlds? This however would imply that Phyrexia was not in the shard. 

Urgoltha – Very likely, seeing as Homelands was printed around Ice Age, and had character connecting in the lore around the ones in Ice Age. 

Lorwyn-Shadowmoor - The Great Aurora changed around the time of the Sylex blast, shifting very infrequently at the time between the two planes. The shift was something residents hadn't recalled in living memory in the novel. The Mending may have been the event that caused it to go back to the daily shift of worlds, but perhaps the plane got cut apart due to the Sylex blast? 

Ravnica – Cut off from other worlds, Ravnica had the ghost quarter Agyrem attached to them as a ‘district’ of Ravnica. Spirits of the dead could not leave the plane in City of Guilds, and were instead sent to a separate world of Agyrem, which was overlapping and connected. Agyrem reconnected to Ravnica as a land based district after the Mending. We again don't know the cause of the split/trapping originally, but if the timeline lines up, would this have also been caused by the Sylex blast?

Agyrem – The land of the Dead for Ravnica, a separate plane.  Sprits being stuck in the planar area is a good cause to think they couldn't 'move on' and may be part of the Shard of the 12 Worlds.

Worlds potentially in the Shard of the 12 Worlds (prerevision and new):

Cridhe – The location of the novel “The Cursed Land”, it’s a small plane and prerevisionist.  It’s a good chance it could be part of the Shard.  

Rabiah - A prerevisionist plane, it is Arabic in themed, and split into 1001 sub-planes, of almost identical nature and inhabitants, with changes and color shifting within them.  No information is known.  

Wildfire – A land of burning efreets and djinn, it had portals to Dominaria and Rabiah.  Makes it less likely to be part of the shard, because the portals are first mentioned in Mirage block, after the ice age.  Maybe the portals reconnected- much like Koilos and Phyrexia, or both it and Rabiah were part of the shard.  Taysir the planeswalker was also locked out of his home world, which doesn't discount Rabiah or Wildfire from being connected - but just that he would then be restricted to only 10 or 11 worlds. 

Kamigawa – A second plane (besides Ravnica) with a spirit realm and a mortal realm, perhaps two subplanes.  The barrier between the worlds was weakened by Madara’s rift, which may also have been caused by the Golgothian Sylex, creating a portal to Dominaria.  The portal was closed during the Mending and closing of the rift. The champions storyline takes place ~1140 years before the Mending, so the timelines may not line up.  

Cabralin - mentioned in the short story in the pocket player’s guide, it was a plane in that era, but not much is known about it.  

 

Unlikely worlds, but still worth mentioning: 

Moag – can’t be in the shard, Urza visited it while cut off from Dominaria with Xantcha

Vatraquaz - can’t be in the shard, Urza visited it while cut off from Dominaria with Xantcha

Segovia – A miniature plane.  We know little about it.  A good candidate to being a plane that is stifling to be on as part of the shard. However, still unlikely with few 'Segovian' cards in print. 

Pyrulea – The giant leaf world with a sun center that planeswalker Dyfed shows Yawgmoth and Rebbec.  No one known has ever gone back in story, so maybe it’s relatively empty, and part of the shard, as it was seen in the Thran, long before the Brother’s war? Unlikely, though, as it was never mentioned again.   

Phyrexia - opened access through the Caves of Coilos, Phyrexia had a direct pathway to Dominaria, yet was cut off for 4000+ years outside of sending sleeper agents, and eventually, the planar overlay of Rath.  Unlikely the plane is in the shard. 

What do you think?  Any worlds we may have missed?  Is there any discussion or references on recently visited new planes: Kaldheim, Arcavios, Eldraine, Ikoria, which could reference that time period or events that may have connected it in this way?  We'd love to be up for reasonable discussion!