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'''Jodah''' was a powerful archmage during [[Dominaria]]'s [[Dark Age]] and [[Ice Age (event)|Ice Age]], who was present for many of the important historical events on [[Terisiare]] during the periods.  
{{Infobox character
|image=jodah.jpg
|name=Jodah
|birthplace=[[Giva Province]], [[Terisiare]], [[Dominaria (plane)|Dominaria]]
|lifetime= 413 AR to Present
|race=[[Human]]
|colors={{mana|UWRGB}}
|relatives=[[Urza]] (ancestor)<br> [[Mishra]] (ancestor)<br> [[Kayla bin-Kroog]] (ancestor)<br> [[Harbin]] (ancestor)<br> [[Jarsyl]] (ancestor)
|sources=[[The Gathering Dark]], [[The Eternal Ice]], [[The Shattered Alliance]], [[Planar Chaos (novel)|Planar Chaos]]
}}
'''Jodah''' was a powerful archmage during [[Dominaria (plane)|Dominaria]]'s [[Dark Age]] and [[Ice Age (event)|Ice Age]], who was present for many of the important historical events on [[Terisiare]] during the period. He made a habit of gathering nicknames and epithets along his travels, most notably '''Jodah the Eternal'''.<ref name="Brutal"/><ref>[https://jayaballard.com/ In Memoriam - Jaya Ballard]</ref>


Jodah was very influential during the Ice age in developing and researching the aspects of color magic on dominaria. He was also a major contributor to the returning of the [[Shard]] to the rest of the multiverse.  
==Description==
Jodah was very influential during the Ice Age in developing and researching the aspects of color and magic on Dominaria. He was also a major contributor to the return of the [[Shard of the Twelve Worlds|Shard]] to the rest of the [[multiverse]]. Jodah looks deceptively young - twenty-five at the oldest despite being over four thousand - and sports a shaggy mane of brown hair.<ref name="The Dark"/>


==The Early Years==
Jodah is able to create portals to transport him, and others, all over Dominaria.<ref name="Hourglass">{{DailyRef|magic-story/episode-2-sand-hourglass-2022-08-11|Sand in the Hourglass|[[Langley Hyde]]|August 11, 2022}}</ref>
'''Jodah''' was born several generations after the [[Sylex Blast]] that ended the brother's war between [[Urza]] and [[Mishra]]. He was born into a wealthy family that in fact a direct blood relation of [[Urza]] and [[Mishra]] themselves. This wealthy family resided as farm land owners in Giva Province, previously [[Argive]], and had many notable names such as Jarsyl. After the argothian blast and because the ever shortening summers and therefor the overfarming the land the wealth of Jodah's family began to decline. The family finally abandoned their estate and wealth when Jodah was just a young man.


Shortly after Jodah took up an apprenticeship with a small-time mage by the name of Voska who had promised Jodah's mother that he would take care of him. This [[red]] mage instructed Jodah in his first spell casting skills. [[Voska]] also gave Jodah a magical mirror which became very influential later in Jodah's history. During a brief skirmish and the use of magic (which was illegal at that time dictated by the laws of the [[Book of Tal]]) by [[Voska]], Vaska and Jodah were both apprehended by the [[Church of Tal]].  
==History==
===The Gathering Dark===
Jodah was born in 413 [[AR]], several generations after the [[Sylex Blast]] that ended the [[Brothers' War]]. He was born into a wealthy family that was a direct blood relation of [[Urza]] and [[Mishra]] themselves, the family line being founded by [[Kayla bin-Kroog]] after the war. This wealthy family resided as farm landowners in [[Giva Province]], previously [[Argive]], and had many notable members such as [[Jarsyl]]. However, because of the ever-shortening summers and the overfarming of the land, the wealth of Jodah's family began to decline. The family finally abandoned their estate when Jodah was just a young man.  


Jodah and [[Voska]] were shortly taken to the city of [[Alsoor]] where Jodah and Voska were charged with the use of magic and interrogated by the [[Church of Tal]] under the judgment of [[Primata Delphine]]. Jodah and [[Voska]] were torturously interrorgated by [[Primata Delphine]] into informing her that [[Voska]] was instructing Jodah in how to use magic. Jodah then released a spell that momentarily blinded [[Primata Delphine]] and the guards detaining [[Voska]] and Jodah which allowed them to escape. During the escape, in an attempt to avoid the [[Church of Tal]], [[Voksa]] ordered Jodah to flee to the city of [[Alsoor]] and seek refuse in the next closest city of [[Ghed]] where he would meet him shortly. [[Voska]] also informed Jodah that if he failed to meet him then he should seek out a certain secret society of wizards that would become much more important further on in the story of Jodah.  
Originally only able to channel white mana, Jodah was apprenticed to the wandering mage [[Voska]], who gave him a <c title="magical mirror">Reflecting Mirror</c> that would play an important role later on in his life.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20041010134458/http://www.wizards.com:80/default.asp?x=books/magic/wizards Wizards of Magic: The Gathering] (archived)</ref> The two were captured by the [[Church of Tal]], the dominant religious institution of the region, who believed magic to be evil. Jodah escaped and wandered the region for a while, trying to reunite himself with Voska. During these travels, he was forced to hide from a group of goblins by submerging himself in a <c title="long-abandoned fountain">Fountain of Youth</c>. The magical waters of this fountain slowed down his aging to a crawl, although it would be years before anyone noticed.


==Jodah in Ghed==
Eventually, Jodah learned that Voska had been executed by the Church, and decided to travel alongside another mage, [[Sima]], to the [[City of Shadows]]. Halfway through the voyage, Jodah was captured by merfolk, who traded him to the <c>Rag Man</c>, in exchange for <c title="the Coral Helm">Coral Helm</c>. The Rag Man took Jodah through a <c title="Safehaven">Safe Haven</c> to the [[Conclave of Mages]]. Confused by these events, but happy to have found a group of fellow mages who could teach him, Jodah succeeded in the test that [[Mairsil]], the ruler of the Conclave, had set for him, and enrolled in this secluded community.


Shortly after splitting up with [[Voska]] and in an attempt to escape from the city of [[Alsoor]], Jodah found that the city was heavily guarded and was nearly apprehended. In an attempt to avoid guard patrols Jodah hid in an ally way and it was here that he made his first true contact with the [[Rag Man]]. The unspeaking [[Rag Man]] that Jodah encountered pointed in the direction of fish shop that was preparing to ship out empty fish barrels to the port city of [[Ghed]]. These barrels allowed unfettered transportation out of the city of [[Alsoor]].  
Unbeknownst to him, Jodah had become part of the intrigue among powerful wizards. The Rag Man had been sent by [[Lord Ith]], the former ruler of the Conclave, whom Mairsil had imprisoned over the Bottomless Pit located under the building. Mairsil himself thought he could use Jodah to open a [[planar portal]] to the [[Phyrexia|Dark Lands]], a place Jodah's ancestor Jarsyl had supposedly visited, from which Mairsil thought he could gain immense power.


Once Jodah reached the city of [[Ghed]] he awaited the return of [[Voska]], but [[Voska]] did not return. The city of [[Ghed]] was then struck by disease called the spotted [[Plague]]. This [[Plague]]allowed Jodah to obtain employment as a deliverer of remedies with a local healer within [[Ghed]] known as [[Mother Dobbs]]. The remedies that were supplied by [[Mother Dobbs]] essentially acted at laxatives but Jodah took it upon himself and under secrecy to imporove the remedies by infusing them with healing [[White]] magic. This infusion later led to the capture and persecution of [[Mother Dobbs]] by the [[Church of Tal]].
However, all the plotting was interrupted by a full-on assault by the Church of Tal. Alongside Sima, who had tracked him down after his kidnapping, Jodah was led to Ith's prison by the Rag Man. Jodah freed the old mage, only to see Ith, who had been driven insane by his time over the Pit, go into a murderous rampage that resulted in the death of Mairsil and the Rag Man. In the end, Jodah managed to use the mirror Voska had given him to make Ith come to his senses. Though the mages had defeated the Church, the Conclave itself was in ruins. With Ith deciding to travel the land rather than rebuild, the mages followed Jodah and Sima to the City of Shadows.


During the last delivery in which Jodah made for [[Mother Dobbs]] he came in contact and had a minor skirmish with a fellow wizard that would become very important later in the story. After losing his employment under [[Mother Dobbs]] through her being mistakenly accused of use of magic by the [[Church of Tal]], Jodah promptly saught new employment with the army of [[Ghed]].
===The Eternal Ice===
Jodah thrived in the City of Shadows, eventually becoming the Archmage and marrying Sima. However, the fountain he bathed in had dramatically slowed his aging, so while those around him died, he remained practically unchanged. This grief and despair mounted, causing Jodah to descend into madness. To retain his sanity, he began to store his memories in his mirror, wipe his memory clean, then restore the memories from the mirror, drained of their emotional attachment. He lived so long that he was granted the title of Archmage Eternal, and oversaw the City of Shadows as it changed into the [[School of the Unseen]].  


==Jodah's Enlistment ==
Over 2000 years into the [[Ice Age]] that fell over [[Dominaria (plane)|Dominaria]], Jodah was kidnapped by the cousins [[Gerda Äagesdotter]], his second in command at the School, and [[Gustha Ebbasdotter]], the royal mage of [[Kjeldor]], who were envious of his power. They gave him to the necromancer [[Lim-Dûl]], who muddled Jodah's brain with <c>Fyndhorn Pollen</c>, tricked him into believing he was a summoned creature, and forced him to research magic for him, specifically for information about [[Shandalar]] and on ways to defeat [[planeswalker]]s.


Shortly after Jodah enlisten in the army at Ghed and the plague on Ghed had lifted Jodah marched north with the army towards Alsoor. This march towards Alsoor was part of the constant debate over ownership of land by the many city-states that existed during this time in dominaria.  
Jodah was saved by [[Jaya Ballard]], a former apprentice who never got very far in the wizarding world. However, Jodah had been kidnapped shortly before his regular memory-cleansing ritual. Thus, without Pollen clearing his mind, Jodah was going insane. Jaya called upon the so-called goddess [[Freyalise]] to cure him, placing them both in a position of debt to the elven planeswalker.


Having discovered the extent of Lim-Dûl's plans, Jodah took Jaya to Kjeld to convince the ruling elite of the danger. This was not easy as many Kjeldorans believed that the necromancer was no threat, or that he was even a possible ally against the [[Balduvian]] barbarians, the very people with whom Jodah wanted the Kjeldorans to ally themselves. But Lim-Dûl overplayed his hand; he had the secret organization called the [[Knights of Stromgald]] stage a coup. Thanks to the timely intervention of Jodah, Jaya, Gustha, and [[Varchild]], the coup failed, but the threat convinced [[King Darien]] of the truth in Jodah's warnings.


The next spring, the conflict came to a head in a climactic battle between Lim-Dûl's undead hordes and the Kjeldoran-Balduvian alliance. During this battle, Jodah dueled with Lim-Dûl himself, who revealed that he was a merger between Lim-Dûl, a former Kjeldoran soldier, and Mairsil, who had placed his essence into his ruby ring, which had been found by the soldier. Jodah was robbed of his chance for vengeance, however, because [[Leshrac]] intervened. The planeswalker, who was the source behind much of Dûl's powers, was displeased by how the necromancer had wasted his armies on Kjeld, as he had wanted him to use them on Shandalar. After cutting off Dûl's hand, and severing his link with Mairsil, Leshrac took him to Phyrexia to be recreated.


In the aftermath of the battle, Jodah was summoned by Freyalise, who demanded to borrow his mirror as payment for his debt. After the mirror was used in the [[World Spell]] that ended the Ice Age, Freyalise returned it, but Jodah felt she had somehow altered it. From that moment on he did not dare to use it again.


===Shattered Alliances===
Twenty years later, Jodah was again visited by Jaya, who showed him a shriveled, severed hand: the hand of Lim-Dûl and the ring finger were missing. Fearing that the ring containing Mairsil/Dûl's essence could thus take over a powerful lord or wizard and wreak destruction, the reunited duo set out to find it. During their travels, Jodah learned that Jaya had changed in the years he had not seen her.


{{Story-stub}}[[Category:Storylines]][[Category:Characters]]
On these travels, Jodah once again allied Kjeldor and Balduvia, this time against the forces of Varchild, now a renegade with anti-Balduvian sympathies herself. This alliance would eventually be sealed by a dynastic merger via the marriage between [[List of secondary characters/Dominaria|Lothar Lovisason]] of Balduvia and [[List of secondary characters/Dominaria|Alexandrite of Kjeld]]. This marked the beginning of [[New Argive]].
 
The trail eventually led to [[Soldev]], and the [[Soldevi Adnates]] in particular. During an audience with the Adnates, Jodah discovered that they had access to the [[Phyrexian War Beasts]] that the Soldevi had excavated. Moments after this discovery, Jaya stabbed Jodah fatally, revealing that she had been the new vessel of Mairsil/Dûl all along. The Adnates then used the blood of Jodah (the closest still living relative of [[Urza]], the arch-enemy of [[Phyrexia]]) to activate the War Beasts, who went on to take over the [[Soldevi Steam Beasts]] that had been modeled on them. They leveled Soldev, and then teleported to the School of the Unseen, destroying that as well.
 
With no other options left, the dying Jodah used his mirror. He was able to amplify his faltering magic with it and heal himself, but he also discovered what Freyalise had done to it. She had felt that someone near her had the [[planeswalkers' spark]], and believed it to be Jodah. Annoyed by Jodah's irreverent attitude towards planeswalkers, she had enchanted the mirror to trigger the spark of anyone using it. But Jodah was certain that he did not possess the spark, and narrowly managed to escape the spell.
 
Faced with an immensely powerful Jaya/Dûl/Mairsil, Jodah realized that every time he had met Freyalise, someone else had been there: Jaya. After an intense duel, Jodah was in the right position and smashed his mirror in Jaya's face. The energy of Freyalise's spell was released, burning away the essence(s) of Mairsil and Lim-Dûl, and triggering her spark.
 
After ascending as a planeswalker, Jaya helped Jodah defeat the Beasts that had destroyed the School of the Unseen. Jodah decided, like [[Ith]] before him, that the seclusion of the School had not been the right way, and opted not to rebuild. With the surviving mages traveling to other continents, and Jaya setting out across the planes, Jodah opted to spread rumors and lies about himself to hide behind myths and legends.
 
===Later appearances===
After he disappeared, Jodah made several appearances.
 
300 years after the destruction of the School, Jodah visited Urza, who had returned to Dominaria. Urza wanted to fight the [[Phyrexians]] and their coming invasion but was completely insane. Jodah talked to him, telling him what had happened to the plane in his absence, and played an important role in restoring Urza to sanity.
 
During the [[Phyrexian Invasion]] Jodah was not seen but was mentioned as still being alive.
 
He eventually returned during the events of [[Planar Chaos]]. Somehow, probably by scrying, he had discovered that [[Jhoira]] would arrive at [[Urborg]] and waited for her there. When they met, he offered to help her in her quest to stop the further deterioration of Dominaria's space-time continuum. He had created a new mirror that was a perfect copy of the one he had gotten from Voska almost 4000 years earlier. He eventually gave this mirror to Freyalise, hoping she could use it to heal the world as she had done before, but Freyalise discarded the item, claiming it couldn't do the job. Although he did not join her for the entire quest, there were definite sparks between Jodah and fellow immortal human Jhoira. They began a relationship, but it didn't work out.<ref name="Return 5">{{DailyRef|magic-story/return-dominaria-episode-5-2018-04-11|Return to Dominaria: Episode 5|[[Martha Wells]]|April 11, 2018}}</ref>
 
After all the troubles were over and the time of [[Mending]] had begun, Jhoira sought Jodah out. Jhoira told him that he was a different man from the Jodah she had read about, which Jodah confirmed. Whether this means that the Jodah that appeared in Planar Chaos is a different Jodah, possibly one from another timeline, or simply that the stories about Jodah had painted a different image of him was left unexplained.
 
===At the time of Dominaria's resurgence===
Sixty years after the Mending, the Archmage Eternal is now over four thousand years old. He prefers to hide behind extravagant and sometimes contradictory legends while remaining aloof from the day-to-day affairs of Dominaria.<ref name="DOM Legends 3">{{EzTumblr|http://wizardsmagic.tumblr.com/post/173135873526/right-on-time-here-are-some-of-the-legendary|title=Right on time, here are some of the legendary Wizards of Dominaria!|April 21, 2018}}</ref> He currently resides at [[Tolaria West]], where he can often be found lecturing.<ref name="Return 5"/><ref name="DMUGuide">{{DailyRef|feature/planeswalkers-guide-dominaria-2022-08-31|Planeswalker's Guide to Dominaria|[[Roy Graham]], [[Ethan Fleischer]], [[Jenna Helland]], [[Gerritt Turner]]|August 31, 2022}}</ref> He is content to let the chronicles across the ages describe himself, and let those who believe them think they refer not to one mage, but a family or an arcane title.<ref>flavor text for <c>Jodah, Archmage Eternal</c></ref>
 
===Dominaria United===
In 4562 [[AR]], Jodah presided over a peace summit between the [[Keld|Keldons]] and [[Benalia|New Benalia]] at [[Oyster Bay]] to end hostilities in the [[Ice Rime Hills]].<ref name="Hourglass"/> The summit was interrupted when the planeswalkers [[Karn]] and [[Teferi]] revealed the threat of a [[New Phyrexia (plane)|New Phyrexian]] invasion and several of the Benalish [[knight]]s were revealed as Phyrexian [[sleeper agent]]s. After travelling with both planeswalkers, Jaya, and Stenn to Argivia, he helped fight off the Phyrexians.<ref name="Tower">{{DailyRef|magic-story/episode-3-locked-tower-2022-08-12|Episode 3: The Locked Tower|[[Langley Hyde]]|August 12, 2022}}</ref> Travelling to [[Yavimaya]], he met with [[Meria]], the leader of the forest's elves, and helped fight off a [[dragon engine]] piloted by [[Rona]].<ref name="Brutal">{{DailyRef|magic-story/episode-4-brutal-blow-2022-08-15|A Brutal Blow|[[Langley Hyde]]|August 15, 2022}}</ref><ref name="DMU Legends">{{DailyRef|feature/legends-youll-find-dominaria-united-2022-09-01|The Legends You'll Find in Dominaria United|[[Roy Graham]]|September 1, 2022}}</ref> As one of the leaders of the [[New Coalition]], he was present and fought in the Battle at the [[Mana Rig]]. He helped create a memorial to Jaya after her death, and delivered her eulogy.<ref name="Whisper">{{DailyRef|magic-story/episode-5-whisper-wind-2022-08-18|A Whisper in the Wind|[[Langley Hyde]]|August 18, 2022}}</ref>
 
[[Teferi]], [[Saheeli]] and [[Kaya]] resolved to find a solution to the Phyrexian problem in the past, and with blueprints of Urza's time machine given to them by Jodah, installed the [[Temporal Anchor]] in [[Urza's Tower]].<ref name="Stronghold">{{DailyRef|magic-story/the-brothers-war-chapter-1-stronghold|The Brothers' War - Chapter 1: Stronghold|[[Reinhardt Suarez]]|October 21, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Antiquities">{{DailyRef|magic-story/the-brothers-war-chapter-2-antiquities|The Brothers' War - Chapter 2: Antiquities|[[Reinhardt Suarez]]|October 24, 2022}}</ref> During his work with the planeswalkers, Jodah entered the pocket dimension within the [[Starfield Orb]], where he found constructs of [[Xantcha]] and [[Mishra]], as well as numerous copies of ''[[List of in-multiverse works#AntiquitiesWar|The Antiquities War]]'' and many of Urza's documents. He resolved to share the information with Teferi after the completion of his work with the Anchor. However, he was grievously wounded while helping protect the tower from [[Rona]]'s forces.<ref name="The Dark">{{WebRef|url=https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/the-brothers-war-chapter-4-the-dark|title=The Brother's War - Chapter 4: The Dark|author=[[Seanan McGuire]]|date=October 26, 2022|publisher=Magicthegathering.com}}</ref> While recovering, he stayed with [[Saheeli]] in the Tower to retrieve Teferi from the damaged Anchor.<ref name="Exodus">{{WebRef|url=https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/the-brothers-war-chapter-5-exodus|title=The Brother's War - Chapter 5: Exodus|author=[[Seanan McGuire]]|date=October 26, 2022|publisher=Magicthegathering.com}}</ref>
 
==Trivia==
*[[Adeliz]] is close with - and may be the daughter of - Jodah and Jhoira.<ref name="Antiquities"/><ref>{{TwitterRef|jay13x|1586784533440909312|author=[[Jay Annelli]]}}</ref>
*Jodah is one of few people alive since the [[Brothers' War]] who can read [[Thran]].<ref name="Antiquities"/>
 
==Story appearances==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Title !! Author !! Publishing date !! Set !! Setting (plane) !! Featuring
|-
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/return-dominaria-episode-5-2018-04-11|Return to Dominaria: Episode 5}} || [[Martha Wells]] || 2018-04-11 || ''[[Dominaria]]'' || [[Dominaria (plane)|Dominaria]] || [[Ajani Goldmane|Ajani]], [[Jhoira]], [[Hadi]], [[Tien]], [[Gideon Jura|Gideon]], [[Liliana Vess|Liliana]], [[Lyra Dawnbringer]], [[Rael]], [[Thiago]], [[Shanna Sisay]], [[Rafwyn Capashen|Raff Capashen]], [[Tiana]], [[Arvad]], Jodah, [[Naban]], [[Thom]], Arongi
|-
|{{ArticleArchive|magic-story/episode-2-sand-hourglass-2022-08-11|Episode 2: Sand in the Hourglass}} || [[Langley Hyde]] || 2022-08-11 || ''[[Dominaria United]]'' || [[Dominaria (plane)|Dominaria]] || [[Karn]], [[Ajani Goldmane]], [[Radha]], [[Jaya Ballard]], Jodah, [[Aron Capashen]], [[Stenn]], [[Teferi]]
|-
|{{ArticleArchive|magic-story/episode-3-locked-tower-2022-08-12|Episode 3: The Locked Tower}} || [[Langley Hyde]] || 2022-08-12 || ''[[Dominaria United]]'' || [[Dominaria (plane)|Dominaria]] || [[Karn]], [[Jaya Ballard]], Jodah, [[Stenn]], [[Teferi]], [[Shanna Sisay]]
|-
|{{ArticleArchive|magic-story/episode-4-brutal-blow-2022-08-15|Episode 4: A Brutal Blow}} || [[Langley Hyde]] || 2022-08-15 || ''[[Dominaria United]]'' || [[Dominaria (plane)|Dominaria]] || [[Karn]], [[Jaya Ballard]], Jodah, [[Teferi]], [[Shanna Sisay]], [[Arvad]], [[Rafwyn Capashen]], [[Slimefoot]], [[Tiana]], [[Ajani Goldmane]], [[Danitha Capashen]], [[Meria]], [[Aron Capashen]], [[Ertai]], [[Darigaaz]], [[Jhoira]], [[Radha]]
|-
|{{ArticleArchive|magic-story/episode-5-whisper-wind-2022-08-18|Episode 5: A Whisper in the Wind}} || [[Langley Hyde]] || 2022-08-18 || ''[[Dominaria United]]'' || [[Dominaria (plane)|Dominaria]] || [[Teferi]], [[Karn]], [[Jhoira]], [[Ertai]], [[Ajani Goldmane]], [[Jaya Ballard]], [[Radha]], [[Danitha Capashen]], [[Sheoldred]], [[Darigaaz]], Jodah, [[Saheeli Rai]], [[Elesh Norn]]
|-
|{{ArticleArchive|magic-story/the-brothers-war-chapter-1-stronghold|The Brothers' War - Chapter 1: Stronghold}} || [[Reinhardt Suarez]] || 2022-10-21 || ''[[The Brothers' War]]'' || [[Dominaria (plane)|Dominaria]] || [[Teferi]], Jodah, [[Elspeth Tirel]], [[Kaya]], [[Vivien Reid]], [[Saheeli Rai]], [[Wrenn]], [[List of secondary characters/Innistrad#|Seven]]
|-
|{{ArticleArchive|magic-story/the-brothers-war-chapter-2-antiquities|The Brothers' War - Chapter 2: Antiquities}} || [[Reinhardt Suarez]] || 2022-10-24 || ''[[The Brothers' War]]'' || [[Dominaria (plane)|Dominaria]], [[Kaladesh (plane)|Kaladesh]] || [[Saheeli Rai]], [[Kaya]], [[Gonti]], Jodah, [[Jhoira]], [[Sharaman]], [[Xantcha]], [[Mishra]]
|-
|{{ArticleArchive|magic-story/the-brothers-war-chapter-4-the-dark|The Brothers' War - Chapter 4: The Dark}} || [[Reinhardt Suarez]] || 2022-10-25 || ''[[The Brothers' War]]'' || [[Dominaria]] || [[Elspeth Tirel]], [[Wrenn]], [[List of secondary characters/Innistrad|Seven]], [[Chandra Nalaar]], [[Nissa Revane]], Jodah, [[Kaya]], [[Saheeli Rai]], [[Rona]], [[Tezzeret]], [[Ashiok]]
|-
|{{ArticleArchive|magic-story/the-brothers-war-chapter-5-exodus|The Brothers' War - Chapter 5: Exodus}} || [[Reinhardt Suarez]] || 2022-10-26 || ''[[The Brothers' War]]'' || [[Dominaria (plane)|Dominaria]] || [[Chandra Nalaar]], [[Nissa Revane]], [[Kaya]], [[Saheeli Rai]], [[Teferi Akosa]], [[Wrenn]], [[List of secondary characters/Innistrad|Seven]], [[Nahiri]], [[Jace Beleren]], Jodah, [[Elspeth Tirel]], [[Lukka]], [[Vraska]]
|}
 
==In-game references==
{{in-game
|cards=
* <c>Jodah, Archmage Eternal</c><ref>{{DailyRef|card-preview/clever-wizard-never-pays-full-price-2018-04-05|A Clever Wizard Never Pays The Price|[[Adam Styborski]]|April 5, 2018}}</ref>
* <c>Jodah, the Unifier</c><ref>{{DailyRef|making-magic/dominaria-united-states-design-part-3-2022-09-09|Dominaria United States of Design, Part 3|[[Mark Rosewater]]|September 9, 2022}}</ref>
|art=
* <c>Jaya's Immolating Inferno</c>
* <c>Protect the Negotiators</c>
* <c>Temporary Lockdown</c>
* <c>Time of Ice</c><ref>{{DailyRef|card-preview/dominaria-card-day-time-ice-2018-03-28|''Dominaria'' Card of the Day: Time of Ice|[[Blake Rasmussen]]|March 28, 2018}}</ref>
* <c>Twinferno</c>
|associated=
* <c>Jodah's Avenger</c>
* <c>Jodah's Codex</c>
|flavor=
* <c>Cosmic Epiphany</c>
* {{card|Cut Down}}
* <c>Salvaged Manaworker</c>
* {{card|Zuran Orb||MH2}}
}}
 
==References==
{{Reflist}}
 
{{Dominaria|characters}}
[[Category:Humans]]
[[Category:Ice Age Saga]]
[[Category:Wizards]]

Latest revision as of 06:25, 17 June 2024

Jodah
[[File:{{#setmainimage:jodah.jpg}}|250px]]
Details
Race Human
Birthplace Giva Province, Terisiare, Dominaria
Lifetime 413 AR to Present
Relatives Urza (ancestor)
Mishra (ancestor)
Kayla bin-Kroog (ancestor)
Harbin (ancestor)
Jarsyl (ancestor)
Colors
{W}{U}{B}{R}{G}
Sources
The Gathering Dark, The Eternal Ice, The Shattered Alliance, Planar Chaos

Jodah was a powerful archmage during Dominaria's Dark Age and Ice Age, who was present for many of the important historical events on Terisiare during the period. He made a habit of gathering nicknames and epithets along his travels, most notably Jodah the Eternal.[1][2]

Description

Jodah was very influential during the Ice Age in developing and researching the aspects of color and magic on Dominaria. He was also a major contributor to the return of the Shard to the rest of the multiverse. Jodah looks deceptively young - twenty-five at the oldest despite being over four thousand - and sports a shaggy mane of brown hair.[3]

Jodah is able to create portals to transport him, and others, all over Dominaria.[4]

History

The Gathering Dark

Jodah was born in 413 AR, several generations after the Sylex Blast that ended the Brothers' War. He was born into a wealthy family that was a direct blood relation of Urza and Mishra themselves, the family line being founded by Kayla bin-Kroog after the war. This wealthy family resided as farm landowners in Giva Province, previously Argive, and had many notable members such as Jarsyl. However, because of the ever-shortening summers and the overfarming of the land, the wealth of Jodah's family began to decline. The family finally abandoned their estate when Jodah was just a young man.

Originally only able to channel white mana, Jodah was apprenticed to the wandering mage Voska, who gave him a magical mirror that would play an important role later on in his life.[5] The two were captured by the Church of Tal, the dominant religious institution of the region, who believed magic to be evil. Jodah escaped and wandered the region for a while, trying to reunite himself with Voska. During these travels, he was forced to hide from a group of goblins by submerging himself in a long-abandoned fountain. The magical waters of this fountain slowed down his aging to a crawl, although it would be years before anyone noticed.

Eventually, Jodah learned that Voska had been executed by the Church, and decided to travel alongside another mage, Sima, to the City of Shadows. Halfway through the voyage, Jodah was captured by merfolk, who traded him to the Rag Man, in exchange for the Coral Helm. The Rag Man took Jodah through a Safehaven to the Conclave of Mages. Confused by these events, but happy to have found a group of fellow mages who could teach him, Jodah succeeded in the test that Mairsil, the ruler of the Conclave, had set for him, and enrolled in this secluded community.

Unbeknownst to him, Jodah had become part of the intrigue among powerful wizards. The Rag Man had been sent by Lord Ith, the former ruler of the Conclave, whom Mairsil had imprisoned over the Bottomless Pit located under the building. Mairsil himself thought he could use Jodah to open a planar portal to the Dark Lands, a place Jodah's ancestor Jarsyl had supposedly visited, from which Mairsil thought he could gain immense power.

However, all the plotting was interrupted by a full-on assault by the Church of Tal. Alongside Sima, who had tracked him down after his kidnapping, Jodah was led to Ith's prison by the Rag Man. Jodah freed the old mage, only to see Ith, who had been driven insane by his time over the Pit, go into a murderous rampage that resulted in the death of Mairsil and the Rag Man. In the end, Jodah managed to use the mirror Voska had given him to make Ith come to his senses. Though the mages had defeated the Church, the Conclave itself was in ruins. With Ith deciding to travel the land rather than rebuild, the mages followed Jodah and Sima to the City of Shadows.

The Eternal Ice

Jodah thrived in the City of Shadows, eventually becoming the Archmage and marrying Sima. However, the fountain he bathed in had dramatically slowed his aging, so while those around him died, he remained practically unchanged. This grief and despair mounted, causing Jodah to descend into madness. To retain his sanity, he began to store his memories in his mirror, wipe his memory clean, then restore the memories from the mirror, drained of their emotional attachment. He lived so long that he was granted the title of Archmage Eternal, and oversaw the City of Shadows as it changed into the School of the Unseen.

Over 2000 years into the Ice Age that fell over Dominaria, Jodah was kidnapped by the cousins Gerda Äagesdotter, his second in command at the School, and Gustha Ebbasdotter, the royal mage of Kjeldor, who were envious of his power. They gave him to the necromancer Lim-Dûl, who muddled Jodah's brain with Fyndhorn Pollen, tricked him into believing he was a summoned creature, and forced him to research magic for him, specifically for information about Shandalar and on ways to defeat planeswalkers.

Jodah was saved by Jaya Ballard, a former apprentice who never got very far in the wizarding world. However, Jodah had been kidnapped shortly before his regular memory-cleansing ritual. Thus, without Pollen clearing his mind, Jodah was going insane. Jaya called upon the so-called goddess Freyalise to cure him, placing them both in a position of debt to the elven planeswalker.

Having discovered the extent of Lim-Dûl's plans, Jodah took Jaya to Kjeld to convince the ruling elite of the danger. This was not easy as many Kjeldorans believed that the necromancer was no threat, or that he was even a possible ally against the Balduvian barbarians, the very people with whom Jodah wanted the Kjeldorans to ally themselves. But Lim-Dûl overplayed his hand; he had the secret organization called the Knights of Stromgald stage a coup. Thanks to the timely intervention of Jodah, Jaya, Gustha, and Varchild, the coup failed, but the threat convinced King Darien of the truth in Jodah's warnings.

The next spring, the conflict came to a head in a climactic battle between Lim-Dûl's undead hordes and the Kjeldoran-Balduvian alliance. During this battle, Jodah dueled with Lim-Dûl himself, who revealed that he was a merger between Lim-Dûl, a former Kjeldoran soldier, and Mairsil, who had placed his essence into his ruby ring, which had been found by the soldier. Jodah was robbed of his chance for vengeance, however, because Leshrac intervened. The planeswalker, who was the source behind much of Dûl's powers, was displeased by how the necromancer had wasted his armies on Kjeld, as he had wanted him to use them on Shandalar. After cutting off Dûl's hand, and severing his link with Mairsil, Leshrac took him to Phyrexia to be recreated.

In the aftermath of the battle, Jodah was summoned by Freyalise, who demanded to borrow his mirror as payment for his debt. After the mirror was used in the World Spell that ended the Ice Age, Freyalise returned it, but Jodah felt she had somehow altered it. From that moment on he did not dare to use it again.

Shattered Alliances

Twenty years later, Jodah was again visited by Jaya, who showed him a shriveled, severed hand: the hand of Lim-Dûl and the ring finger were missing. Fearing that the ring containing Mairsil/Dûl's essence could thus take over a powerful lord or wizard and wreak destruction, the reunited duo set out to find it. During their travels, Jodah learned that Jaya had changed in the years he had not seen her.

On these travels, Jodah once again allied Kjeldor and Balduvia, this time against the forces of Varchild, now a renegade with anti-Balduvian sympathies herself. This alliance would eventually be sealed by a dynastic merger via the marriage between Lothar Lovisason of Balduvia and Alexandrite of Kjeld. This marked the beginning of New Argive.

The trail eventually led to Soldev, and the Soldevi Adnates in particular. During an audience with the Adnates, Jodah discovered that they had access to the Phyrexian War Beasts that the Soldevi had excavated. Moments after this discovery, Jaya stabbed Jodah fatally, revealing that she had been the new vessel of Mairsil/Dûl all along. The Adnates then used the blood of Jodah (the closest still living relative of Urza, the arch-enemy of Phyrexia) to activate the War Beasts, who went on to take over the Soldevi Steam Beasts that had been modeled on them. They leveled Soldev, and then teleported to the School of the Unseen, destroying that as well.

With no other options left, the dying Jodah used his mirror. He was able to amplify his faltering magic with it and heal himself, but he also discovered what Freyalise had done to it. She had felt that someone near her had the planeswalkers' spark, and believed it to be Jodah. Annoyed by Jodah's irreverent attitude towards planeswalkers, she had enchanted the mirror to trigger the spark of anyone using it. But Jodah was certain that he did not possess the spark, and narrowly managed to escape the spell.

Faced with an immensely powerful Jaya/Dûl/Mairsil, Jodah realized that every time he had met Freyalise, someone else had been there: Jaya. After an intense duel, Jodah was in the right position and smashed his mirror in Jaya's face. The energy of Freyalise's spell was released, burning away the essence(s) of Mairsil and Lim-Dûl, and triggering her spark.

After ascending as a planeswalker, Jaya helped Jodah defeat the Beasts that had destroyed the School of the Unseen. Jodah decided, like Ith before him, that the seclusion of the School had not been the right way, and opted not to rebuild. With the surviving mages traveling to other continents, and Jaya setting out across the planes, Jodah opted to spread rumors and lies about himself to hide behind myths and legends.

Later appearances

After he disappeared, Jodah made several appearances.

300 years after the destruction of the School, Jodah visited Urza, who had returned to Dominaria. Urza wanted to fight the Phyrexians and their coming invasion but was completely insane. Jodah talked to him, telling him what had happened to the plane in his absence, and played an important role in restoring Urza to sanity.

During the Phyrexian Invasion Jodah was not seen but was mentioned as still being alive.

He eventually returned during the events of Planar Chaos. Somehow, probably by scrying, he had discovered that Jhoira would arrive at Urborg and waited for her there. When they met, he offered to help her in her quest to stop the further deterioration of Dominaria's space-time continuum. He had created a new mirror that was a perfect copy of the one he had gotten from Voska almost 4000 years earlier. He eventually gave this mirror to Freyalise, hoping she could use it to heal the world as she had done before, but Freyalise discarded the item, claiming it couldn't do the job. Although he did not join her for the entire quest, there were definite sparks between Jodah and fellow immortal human Jhoira. They began a relationship, but it didn't work out.[6]

After all the troubles were over and the time of Mending had begun, Jhoira sought Jodah out. Jhoira told him that he was a different man from the Jodah she had read about, which Jodah confirmed. Whether this means that the Jodah that appeared in Planar Chaos is a different Jodah, possibly one from another timeline, or simply that the stories about Jodah had painted a different image of him was left unexplained.

At the time of Dominaria's resurgence

Sixty years after the Mending, the Archmage Eternal is now over four thousand years old. He prefers to hide behind extravagant and sometimes contradictory legends while remaining aloof from the day-to-day affairs of Dominaria.[7] He currently resides at Tolaria West, where he can often be found lecturing.[6][8] He is content to let the chronicles across the ages describe himself, and let those who believe them think they refer not to one mage, but a family or an arcane title.[9]

Dominaria United

In 4562 AR, Jodah presided over a peace summit between the Keldons and New Benalia at Oyster Bay to end hostilities in the Ice Rime Hills.[4] The summit was interrupted when the planeswalkers Karn and Teferi revealed the threat of a New Phyrexian invasion and several of the Benalish knights were revealed as Phyrexian sleeper agents. After travelling with both planeswalkers, Jaya, and Stenn to Argivia, he helped fight off the Phyrexians.[10] Travelling to Yavimaya, he met with Meria, the leader of the forest's elves, and helped fight off a dragon engine piloted by Rona.[1][11] As one of the leaders of the New Coalition, he was present and fought in the Battle at the Mana Rig. He helped create a memorial to Jaya after her death, and delivered her eulogy.[12]

Teferi, Saheeli and Kaya resolved to find a solution to the Phyrexian problem in the past, and with blueprints of Urza's time machine given to them by Jodah, installed the Temporal Anchor in Urza's Tower.[13][14] During his work with the planeswalkers, Jodah entered the pocket dimension within the Starfield Orb, where he found constructs of Xantcha and Mishra, as well as numerous copies of The Antiquities War and many of Urza's documents. He resolved to share the information with Teferi after the completion of his work with the Anchor. However, he was grievously wounded while helping protect the tower from Rona's forces.[3] While recovering, he stayed with Saheeli in the Tower to retrieve Teferi from the damaged Anchor.[15]

Trivia

Story appearances

Title Author Publishing date Set Setting (plane) Featuring
Return to Dominaria: Episode 5 Martha Wells 2018-04-11 Dominaria Dominaria Ajani, Jhoira, Hadi, Tien, Gideon, Liliana, Lyra Dawnbringer, Rael, Thiago, Shanna Sisay, Raff Capashen, Tiana, Arvad, Jodah, Naban, Thom, Arongi
Episode 2: Sand in the Hourglass Langley Hyde 2022-08-11 Dominaria United Dominaria Karn, Ajani Goldmane, Radha, Jaya Ballard, Jodah, Aron Capashen, Stenn, Teferi
Episode 3: The Locked Tower Langley Hyde 2022-08-12 Dominaria United Dominaria Karn, Jaya Ballard, Jodah, Stenn, Teferi, Shanna Sisay
Episode 4: A Brutal Blow Langley Hyde 2022-08-15 Dominaria United Dominaria Karn, Jaya Ballard, Jodah, Teferi, Shanna Sisay, Arvad, Rafwyn Capashen, Slimefoot, Tiana, Ajani Goldmane, Danitha Capashen, Meria, Aron Capashen, Ertai, Darigaaz, Jhoira, Radha
Episode 5: A Whisper in the Wind Langley Hyde 2022-08-18 Dominaria United Dominaria Teferi, Karn, Jhoira, Ertai, Ajani Goldmane, Jaya Ballard, Radha, Danitha Capashen, Sheoldred, Darigaaz, Jodah, Saheeli Rai, Elesh Norn
The Brothers' War - Chapter 1: Stronghold Reinhardt Suarez 2022-10-21 The Brothers' War Dominaria Teferi, Jodah, Elspeth Tirel, Kaya, Vivien Reid, Saheeli Rai, Wrenn, Seven
The Brothers' War - Chapter 2: Antiquities Reinhardt Suarez 2022-10-24 The Brothers' War Dominaria, Kaladesh Saheeli Rai, Kaya, Gonti, Jodah, Jhoira, Sharaman, Xantcha, Mishra
The Brothers' War - Chapter 4: The Dark Reinhardt Suarez 2022-10-25 The Brothers' War Dominaria Elspeth Tirel, Wrenn, Seven, Chandra Nalaar, Nissa Revane, Jodah, Kaya, Saheeli Rai, Rona, Tezzeret, Ashiok
The Brothers' War - Chapter 5: Exodus Reinhardt Suarez 2022-10-26 The Brothers' War Dominaria Chandra Nalaar, Nissa Revane, Kaya, Saheeli Rai, Teferi Akosa, Wrenn, Seven, Nahiri, Jace Beleren, Jodah, Elspeth Tirel, Lukka, Vraska

In-game references

Represented in:
Associated cards:
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Quoted or referred to:

References

  1. ↑ a b Langley Hyde (August 15, 2022). "A Brutal Blow". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. ↑ In Memoriam - Jaya Ballard
  3. ↑ a b Seanan McGuire (October 26, 2022). "The Brother's War - Chapter 4: The Dark". Magicthegathering.com.
  4. ↑ a b Langley Hyde (August 11, 2022). "Sand in the Hourglass". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. ↑ Wizards of Magic: The Gathering (archived)
  6. ↑ a b Martha Wells (April 11, 2018). "Return to Dominaria: Episode 5". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (April 21, 2018). "Right on time, here are some of the legendary Wizards of Dominaria!". The Official Magic: The Gathering Tumblr. Tumblr.
  8. ↑ Roy Graham, Ethan Fleischer, Jenna Helland, Gerritt Turner (August 31, 2022). "Planeswalker's Guide to Dominaria". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. ↑ flavor text for Jodah, Archmage Eternal
  10. ↑ Langley Hyde (August 12, 2022). "Episode 3: The Locked Tower". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  11. ↑ Roy Graham (September 1, 2022). "The Legends You'll Find in Dominaria United". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. ↑ Langley Hyde (August 18, 2022). "A Whisper in the Wind". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  13. ↑ Reinhardt Suarez (October 21, 2022). "The Brothers' War - Chapter 1: Stronghold". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  14. ↑ a b c Reinhardt Suarez (October 24, 2022). "The Brothers' War - Chapter 2: Antiquities". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  15. ↑ Seanan McGuire (October 26, 2022). "The Brother's War - Chapter 5: Exodus". Magicthegathering.com.
  16. ↑ Jay Annelli. "jay13x". Twitter.
  17. ↑ Adam Styborski (April 5, 2018). "A Clever Wizard Never Pays The Price". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  18. ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 9, 2022). "Dominaria United States of Design, Part 3". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  19. ↑ Blake Rasmussen (March 28, 2018). "Dominaria Card of the Day: Time of Ice". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
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