The Golgothian Sylex
The Argivian Sylex
History of The Golgothian Sylex
The Golgothian Sylex (also known as the Argivian Sylex) was a massively destructive artifact created by the Thran or an earlier civilization. Urza used it to unleash the Sylex Blast and end the Brothers' War. The Sylex was accidentally netted by Yumok fishermen in 34 AR, and sent to Feldon in Terisia City for study. It was made of an unknown copper-like metal, roughly one foot in diameter, and described as a cross between a bowl mounted on a thick pedestal and a squat, wide-rimmed goblet. Its interior was carved with glyphs in several languages, including Thran, Fallaji, and Sumifan, making it a Rosetta Stone for the others. Those glyphs named the item "sylex" and its origin "Golgoth". Without sufficient context, Feldon was unable to determine whether Golgoth was a location or a person responsible for the item's creation. He translated the Fallaji glyphs as: “ Wipe the land clear. Bring the ending. Topple the empires to bring a fresh start. Call the end, fill with memories of the land. ” Shortly before Terisia City fell to the siege by Mishra's forces, some of its population escaped under the cover of a sandstorm. Among them, Loran fled the city with the sylex, with the intent of keeping it away from either of the warring brothers or anyone else that might be able to use it. She was later wounded, captured, and relieved of the sylex by Ashnod. During the final battle of the Brothers' War on Argoth, Ashnod passed the sylex to Tawnos, who conveyed it to Urza. Immediately prior, Urza had sparked during a face-to-face duel with his brother, and had become acutely aware of the scope of the damage the war had done to the land itself. In remorse, he activated the sylex. The ensuing Sylex Blast destroyed both armies and the island of Argoth, altered Dominaria's climate to begin the Ice Age, and caused the downfall of most of Dominaria's then-extant major civilizations. The planeswalker Ravidel obtained the Golgothian Sylex through a bargain after a duel with Ash Warlord Embereck in a sunken city of Terisiare after the Ice Age. In Year One by the Reckoning of the Sages of Minorad, Ravidel appeared at Minorad and threatened to use the Sylex unless the five planeswalkers present — Liana of Minorad, Ash Warlord Embereck, Kristina of the Woods, Grenfell Mor of Golthonor and Altair of Coloni – promised not to interfere with his actions on Dominaria, to which they agreed. In the year 1281 by the Reckoning of the Sages of Minorad, Ravidel threatened to use it again, so Jared Carthalion and Kristina found the long-daggers that would destroy the Sylex. Jared used the daggers to make it vulnerable to a shatter spell, which finally destroyed the artifact (although this does not appear to have been the original artifact). During the events of Dominaria, sixty years after the Mending, Karn dug up the Sylex in Yavimaya, planning to use it to destroy New Phyrexia. He later investigated the Caves of Koilos to find information about its use and found a clay tablet that seemed to refer to the Sylex. He secreted the Sylex and the tablet away in a closet of Jhoira's on the Mana Rig in Shiv. The Sylex was a pivotal object in the Second Phyrexian Invasion of Dominaria. Karn's plan to detonate it at New Phyrexia served as the strategic focus for the Phyrexian sleeper agents led by Sheoldred. During the assault on the Thran Mana Rig, the compleated Ajani crumpled the Sylex and took a disabled Karn to New Phyrexia. However, Saheeli Rai, another artificer planeswalker, made a perfect replica using the plans Karn had uncovered. Unfortunately, the mystery of the Sylex's activation was not mechanical — it was magical, a spell buried in history. To discover the secret of its detonation, Teferi Akosa travelled back in time with help of Saheeli's Temporal Anchor. Teferi's spirit engaged in conversation with Urza after the Sylex Blast and learned that there was no unknown spell to discover, no secret mechanism by which Urza had activated his Sylex. The trigger to detonate the Sylex was not a spell or an artifact — it was a person, possibly of a certain desperate mindset. The Temporal Anchor short-circuited directly after Teferi's discovery, rendering him unconscious in the stasis chamber. This left Kaya, who had been in contact with him, as the only person with an idea of how to operate the Sylex. Traveling with a group of other planeswalkers, she took the duplicate Sylex to New Phyrexia to destroy Realmbreaker. Traveling through the spheres of New Phyrexia, the planeswalker strike force, the group reached the Seedcore and Realmbreaker. Jace Beleren had become infected with phyresis and his compleation progressed steadily, but he heroically held on to his sanity and insisted to detonate the Sylex.[12] When Jace prepared to activate the Sylex, Kaya realized that she could see into the Blind Eternities by looking at the tree, and expressed concerns that the collateral damage of the Sylex blast had the potential to destroy one or more planes, or even the Eternities themselves. Jace acknowledged the possibility, but moved forward anyway, considering these planes the price for an un-compleated Multiverse. Kaya and Kaito attacked him to interrupt the blast, but Jace evaded them with illusions. He ran his thumbnail across his forehead and dripped the ichor from the wound into the bowl. With an almost physical effort, he also forced his grief and fury into the bowl. Not only his grief: the suffering and sorrow-drenched agony of all Mirrodin. Regret for the Multiverse. The love of Vraska. He poured it all into the sylex. Jace was about to set off the Sylex when Elspeth, who had been fighting the compleated Ajani and Tibalt to buy them time, burst into the chamber, impaled Jace, and abducted the Sylex, disappearing into thin air.
The Golgothian Sylex is also known as; The Argivian Sylex
