Secrets of Strixhaven comes out on April 24th, and we are deep into preview season for this intriguing new set, and the entire story has now been released. This marks our first return trip to the plane of Arcavios and its school of magic, which we first visited in 2021. If you want a quick crash course on the plane’s lore and story, I wrote an article about that a couple weeks ago. It’s recommended reading if you’re not familiar with this setting, or you just want to brush up on Strixhaven and the plane of Arcavios.
In this article, I’m going to summarize the epic 6-part story in one digestible read, that way you know the story behind the cards.
CATCHING UP WITH FAMILIAR FIRST YEARS
During the events of Lorwyn Eclipsed, we met five first-year students who are also characters in this new story – and there’s one for each of the colleges. Abigale (Silverquill), Sanar (Prismari), Kirol (Lorehold), and Tam (Quandrix) all ended up lost on Lorwyn-Shadowmoor as a result of a series of unfortunate events. Lluwen is a Lorwyn Elf they met during their travels, and he decided to return to Arcavios with them, where he’s now a Witherbloom student.
Following their accidental field trip to Lorwyn-Shadowmoor, the five of them remain close despite being in separate colleges. Abigale suggests they do this through the use of a “scribing board,” which is basically a magical version of group chat, and we get updates about all of them through one of their chats.
They are all scattered throughout Arcavios in pursuit of their studies. Abigale has been visiting the Forum of Amity, the plane’s center of diplomacy. Sanar has been at Spectacle Summit, a beautiful natural wonder on the plane with lots of elemental energy.
Kirol has been at an important historical site on the plane called the Fields of Strife. There, spirits from the Blood Age are continuing to battle one another, long after the actual war has ended. Kirol also notes that the planeswalker who saved them on Lorwyn-Shadowmoor – Ajani – is now going to be an advisor for Lorehold College.
Lluwen has been struggling to find his place at Strixhaven, as he’s the only Lorwyn-Shadwomoor Elf on the plane, and due to his strange appearance. He’s getting ready to go on a field trip to Titan’s Grave, which is a massive structure that is actually the remains of some unknown titan from the early days of the plane’s existence. He and his fellow classmates are to be accompanied by Jadzi, the plane’s mysterious oracle, as well as Professor Fel, a man who his fellow classmates uniformly describe as a jerk.
Tam has been at the Paradox Gardens, where she’s been observing interesting natural phenomena and strange anomalies on the plane. She also tells Lluwen she’ll join him on the trip to Titan’s Grave, as she wants to talk to Jadzi.
FIELD TRIP TO TITAN’S GRAVE
Lluwen and Tam’s field trip starts off smoothly. Not only were they able to speak with Jadzi, but Professor Fel was surprisingly pleasant. That is, until Lluwen observes a group of strange creatures called Lumarets displaying some interesting behavior. He writes that, “They held in their little outstretched hands a bit of bark, tilting their head this way and that. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they were studying a map.” He also observes these creatures communicating with one another using hand signals.
Excited by his discovery, he informs Professor Fel about these creatures showcasing signs of higher levels of cognition. The Professor responds harshly. He tells Lluwen that they aren’t worth studying, and when Lluwen objects he replies harshly, “Either keep surveying and return with something useful, or report for community service at the Clever Cricket. I imagine the children who visit for our daily magical demonstrations will be fascinated with your tales.”
After that, Lluwen gets bullied by some of his fellow students for his strange appearance compared to other elves in the multiverse. When he fights back, the students call for Professor Fel, who only scolds Lluwen, even telling him that if he can’t get his act together, he’ll be expelled from the school.
LLUWEN’S FRIGHTENING DISCOVERY
After being scolded by Professor Fel, Lluwen desperately searches for a discovery that would be worthy of his praise. He begins tracking a small tree-dwelling animal that he hopes will keep him from getting expelled. Eventually, he gets distracted when he realizes something massive is headed his way. In his eagerness to figure out what it is, he falls through a brittle area on the titan’s bones and loses consciousness.
When he wakes up inside the bones of the titan, he sees six huge archaics. These are colossal mysterious beings on the plane who are immortal and have immense knowledge of magic. But they are typically isolated, peaceful, and scattered across the plane. This makes the sight of so many of them together something no one has ever seen before.
The archaics are gathering around a place where magic is simply spilling out – similar to the plane’s snarls. They are all moving in eerie unison as they touch the magical energy. Lluwen begins attempting to record his discovery with a sketch, but before he can, the archaics all stop what they are doing and look at him menacingly.
Filled with fear, Lluwen climbs out of the titan’s bone, and runs into Professor Fel who chastises him for still not finding anything. In shock from his experience with the archaics and fearful that Fel will simply reject him again, Lluwen is unable to speak.
SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG WITH THE ARCHAICS
Lluwen is eventually able to tell Tam about what he witnessed, and they decide that instead of going to Fel about it, they should go to Jadzi, the Oracle. Jadzi has since left for a nearby town, so Lluwen heads there.
He goes to Jadzi’s favorite tea shop in the town and is pleased to find her there, until he realizes Professor Fel is there with her. He quickly hides himself and uses his sharp senses to eavesdrop on them, and he learns a great many things, many of which he can not understand.
First, he learns that Professor Fel is a planeswalker who Jadzi scolds because he “uses students for his little scheme.” Second, Jadzi describes the archaics as “externalized examples of the future.” Third, Professor Fel, Professor Vess, and Jadzi are all aware that the archaics are acting strangely all over the plane. And lastly, Professor Vess has gone missing.
Shocked by what he has learned, Lluwen returns to camp to tell Tam about everything. However, before he can, the ground begins to shake and a figure so large that it was blocking the moonlight. It was an archaic, but one larger than any that has ever been described. And its size isn’t the only problem, magical energy is also arcing off of it in every direction.
Luckily, the gigantic archaic passes by camp, seemingly uninterested in the students. But not long after, Professor Fel comes running and informs them that the Oracle is missing. Everyone worries that the Archaic took her. Tam and Lluwen send out a call for help to their friends.
REUNIONS
Kirol, Sanar, and Abigale all come to Titan’s Grave, and Ajani arrives not long after, having tracked Kirol there. They begin searching for Tam and Lluwen, but they are interrupted by the appearance of Chandra Nalaar, who is accompanied by two young people wearing masks. She and her companions stun Ajani and his students, and he wakes up with magical shackles.
When she’s questioned about her reasons for capturing him and the students, Chandra says that something is going wrong, and she’s the only one who can fix it, and she can’t be sure that Ajani isn’t compromised.
She also reveals that her companions are Oriq – people on the plane who are opposed to Strixhaven’s regulation of magic. They were the primary antagonists during the original Strixhaven story.
However, these Oriq are less extreme than their predecessors, as they refused to attack Strixhaven, and protested that plan by shattering their distinctive masks. These remaining Oriq are collectively known as The Shattered, and they are assisting Chandra.
When Ajani notices that Chandra seems to be in pain, he asks her about it, and she reveals that Jace survived the events of Tarkir: Dragonstorm and is doing something with the Archaics. She knows this, because since their last encounter (during the climax of Aetherdrift), his thoughts are jumbled with her own.
As she’s explaining this, the mountainous Archaic appears again, and Chandra wants to immediately engage it in battle. Ajani tackles her to the ground and tries to reason with her, telling her that they should try to communicate with the Archaic, but she refuses.
Lluwen realizes that the Archaic is holding Jadzi, but this doesn’t do anything to deter Chandra, who hurls a giant fireball at the creature, but Ajani’s intervention gives Jadzi time to erect a magical barrier that stops her attack. Then the Archaic punches ground, obliterating everything around, including the campsite. This sends The Shattered, the five students, and the pair of planeswalkers tumbling into darkness.
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF ARCAVIOS
The five Strixhaven students and The Shattered awaken within the bones of the Titan, but the planeswalkers are nowhere to be found. Everyone works together, realizing that that’s the best way for them to get out of the situation they’re in. They’re deep within the bones of the Titan and because of the collapse, there is no visible way out, even for Abigale, who can fly.
Lluwen and Kirol go looking for signs of airflow, and when they do, they encounter Lumarets. The presence of these creatures makes Lluwen think there is probably a way out.
Meanwhile, Tam is searching for a water source. She finds a pond, but when she sees her reflection in it, she is briefly replaced by a man clad in white clothing.
Lluwen and Kirol return to the main chamber and they lead everyone to the corridor where the Lumarets are. They begin to follow them, and as they do, everyone starts to feel very intense, aggressive emotions.
When the ground begins to shake beneath them, Kirol is the first to realize what’s happening. They inform everyone that their emotions are being manipulated by large demonic beings called Daemogoths that feed on negative emotion and offer power to people when they are at their weakest.
Once the Daemogoth appears, it captures Lluwen and attempts to feed on his emotion, and Lluwen urges his friends to continue on without them. But then, an unlikely savior appears – Professor Fel. Much to everyone’s surprise, the Daemogoth is on a first-name basis with him, saying “Dellian, have you returned to make that deal with me?” This doesn’t stop Fel from annihilating the Daemogoth with his magic.
When the students ask what the Daemogoth was talking about, Professor Fel reveals he once made a promise that he has to keep, and that he was considering all of his options about how to keep it – including potentially making a deal with a demon.
To everyone’s surprise, Tam suddenly says “That’s why you were interested in the archaics, wasn’t it? That’s why you were here. Because of their relationship to nonlinear time. You wanted to try and find some way to go back and save the woman you loved.” Fel reluctantly confirms this, hinting that losing his partner is what also awakened his planeswalker spark. He also asks how Tam could possibly know all that. She claims that the Oracle told her.
This finally gives Lluwen the confidence to step forward and tell Fel what he saw earlier. Fel immediately becomes interested and offers Lluwen some long-overdue praise. He asks Lluwen to lead the group to where he saw the Archaics gathered around a snarl.
EVERYTHING ABOUT THE ARCHAICS IS REVEALED
Meanwhile, Ajani and Chandra find themselves buried even more deeply in the Titan’s tunnels. As they try to find their way out, they discuss what Chandra knows about Jace and the archaic. While things are all jumbled up and she can’t understand all of it, she thinks he wants to incarnate himself into the archaic, and the only way to stop him is to kill the Archaic. Ajani tentatively agrees to support her but also tells her that if he doesn’t see evidence of what she’s saying, he won’t let her kill the Archaic.
As they continue to explore the tunnels, they find the Archaic near another snarl of magic, with Jadzi speaking to it as she treats its wounds. Chandra and Ajani watch from the shadows, but Jadzi eventually reveals that she knows they are there. Chandra and Ajani express their confusion with the situation, so Jadzi explains:
“Archaics are oracles, like I am. When we die, we don’t get to visit any of the places theorized by other worlds or religions; we’re flung back in time to relive all of history. Something about the process transforms us into those things..”
Jadzi then explains her whole reason for coming to Titan’s Grave – she was worried about the strange behavior of the Archaics. Once she got there, this gigantic one – the Dawning Archaic – came to her for help, telling her that all of the Archaics have been meddled with somehow. They are all shifting into and out of existence as a result of the strange magical snarls. And if the Archaics cease to exist, so too will Arcavios.
Chandra, Ajani, and Jadzi work together to try to unravel the strange snarl of magic in the vicinity. However, Chandra experiences extreme pain and collapses as they try to. Her frustration boils over, and she decides that the fastest and most direct solution to the problem is killing the Archaic.
AN EPIC BATTLE AND AN UNFORSEEN BETRAYAL
Ajani is opposed to Chandra’s plan, and the two engage in battle, with Ajani protecting the Archaic. The two of them take care not to do anything that might kill the other, but they are very much trying to incapacitate one another. Ajani realizes that whatever is happening to Chandra’s mind is weakening her, and that means he just has to wait her out, something that isn’t very difficult for someone who can heal himself.
Just as Chandra has been defeated, Lluwen and his party stumble onto the scene, where Ajani is completely focused on nursing Chandra back to health. Then, even more energy starts pouring out of the Archaic and the snarl and reality itself gets very weird:
As the group ran through the cave to the chamber, they could hardly keep track of what was real. What had seemed so incontrovertible, so solid—the remains of the titan—was now little more than a suggestion. And what were they to do when reality itself was a suggestion?
But things get even weirder, with both time and reality completely warping around them. The three planeswalkers seem more affected by this in anyone, as they are completely immobilized. Jadzi tries to get everyone to leave so she can calm down the Archaic, who is the source of these anomalies, and she begins chanting for a powerful spell that will do exactly that.
Tam approaches her as if she’s going to help with the spell. But then, she shoves Jadzi into the snarl of churning magic, and the Oracle disappears. Tam turns to her stunned friends, says, “I was made to do this,” and “The days we spent together were the happiest of my life,” before jumping into the snarl-portal herself.
Despite being stunned and heartbroken, Tam’s former friends are immediately pressed to action because whatever is happening to the Archaic is still causing magical energy to surge all over the place. With the three planeswalkers still unable to help, Lluwen realizes they need to finish Jadzi’s spell to calm down the archaic.
The four of them struggle to channel magic powerful enough for the Oracle of Arcavios, but their determination, plus the help of the Lumarets – who, it turns out, can work together to cast powerful magical spells, allows them to finish Jadzi’s spell and calm the Archaic. Reality goes back to normal around them, and the three planeswalkers are freed from their stasis, and Lluwen finally gets the praise from Professor Fel that he was craving.
EPILOGUE: JACE(?) AND TAM IN ANOTHER REALITY
Meanwhile, Tam is shown to be at Strixhaven – sort of. She describes it to herself as follows:
This place was Strixhaven—but it wasn’t. Nothing was where she expected it to be. Even though she’d been in this office a dozen times before, it was never quite right. Different curios, different organization methods, different books. Someone else lived here. Someone else’s stories lived here.
As she’s agonizing over whether she took the right actions with her friends, a man approaches her and comforts her. It’s Jace – or at least, a version of him. He’s clad entirely in white. He tells her that he has found everyone he was looking for, and he shows her the silhouettes of several figures that Tam hopes will help her feel less lonely.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?: WHO IS THIS ‘JACE’? AND WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH TAM?!
This story left us with many mysteries, but I think we’ll get the answer to most of them soon.
This story is setting us up for the next in-universe set – Reality Fracture, which comes out in October. In the Lorwyn Eclipsed story we saw that Liliana was visited by a version of herself clad entirely in white and now we’ve seen something similar for Jace. While he didn’t feature in the main story for the set, Secrets of Strixhaven also features a Black-aligned version of Ral Zarek.
Putting this all together, it would appear that powerful planeswalkers from some other reality are coming to the main Magic universe that we know, and taking things back to their own universe. It’s unclear what exactly they need Jadzi for, but one has to imagine that it isn’t good. Whatever was being done to the Archaics was causing reality itself to warp, and since Jadzi herself will one day be an Archaic, Jace may be planning on using her to cause reality to warp on a multiversal scale.
Looking back at the Edge of Eternities story, which concluded with the Endstone being taken by a strange being known as “Vaar”, it’s also very possible that it factors in their plans.
There’s also a possibility that the Jace in this alternate reality is the Jace we know from the mainstream universe. Last time we saw him in Tarkir: Dragonstorm, he took Ugin’s spirit gem in the Meditation Realm, and said that he wanted to use it to alter the entire multiverse. It looked like the gem’s power obliterated him, but it’s possible he simply went to another universe.
Tam’s true identity is also a mystery. In the past, it was stated that she came from Shandalar, but like so much of what we knew about her, that seems to be fabricated. In this story, she describes herself as “made,” which probably means she was specifically created by this alternate Jace for this purpose. It’s possible that she is the daughter of Jace and Vraska in this alternate universe. He comforts her as much as a father would, and her Gorgon heritage had to have come from somewhere.
END STEP
What did you think of this story? Where do you think we’re headed next? Let me know over on X or Bluesky.
Jacob has been playing Magic for the better part of 24 years, and he especially loves playing Magic’s Limited formats. He also holds a PhD in history from the University of Oklahoma. In 2015, he started his YouTube channel, “Nizzahon Magic,” where he combines his interests with many videos covering Magic’s competitive history. When he’s not playing Magic or making Magic content, he can be found teaching college-level history courses or caring for a menagerie of pets with his wife.