Reality Fracture | Episode 5: I Don't Need to Convince You
In the conclusion of the Reality Fracture story line, Jace's logical persona, the Theorist, confronts Vraska and her allies in his sanctum. Determined to reset the Multiverse at any cost, he uses telepathy to control the battle while wrestling with his own shattered mind.
- Jace's logical persona, the Theorist, confronts Vraska, Ajani, Chandra, and Garruk.
- The Theorist reveals how he reconstituted his physical form within the Meditation Realm.
- Vraska attempts to stop Jace from executing a plan that would kill billions.
- Jace uses telepathic memory wipes and body locks to subdue the party.
An Intrusion of Former Allies
Inside his high-arched sanctum, the Theorist senses a group of visitors ascending the spiral staircase long before they reach his door. Through his heightened mental perception, he identifies Chandra, Garruk, and Ajani Goldmane, alongside a mind he knows better than any other: Vraska. Just as he prepares to move forward with his grand calculations, the four intrude upon his sanctuary.
With a simple flick of his hand, the Theorist subdues three of the intruders instantly. Chandra, Garruk, and Ajani collapse soundlessly to the floor, forced into a dreamless sleep. Only Vraska remains standing, protected by her own mental fortitude and staring at the diminished, hyper-logical remnant of Jace Beleren.
A Clash of Principles
Vraska presents Jace with a small bundle wrapped in family cloth containing an old horseshoe, attempting to ground him in his true memories and show that his quest is based on a phantom ideal. She confronts him over the scale of his calculations, realizing that his desire to reset the Multiverse to eliminate suffering will overwrite and kill billions of living beings.
When Vraska condemns him as a murderer, the Theorist finds himself deeply shaken by her rejection. Unable to alter his logical conclusions but desperate to avoid her hatred, he wipes Vraska's memory of the conversation and awakens her allies, forcing the group to march up the stairs to repeat the confrontation from the beginning.
Origins of the Theorist
On their second approach, the Theorist freezes the entire party mid-stride, freeing only Vraska's speech so they can communicate. As she demands to know how he survived his original death, Jace shares the mental memory of his rebirth. Following his destruction, his shattered psyche lingered in the Meditation Realm, holding itself together through sheer willpower.
Drawing upon the unique, creationist properties of Ugin's home plane, Jace sculpted himself a new physical body out of the realm's energy. However, his fractured mind could not remain unified. The logical, unfeeling portion of his intellect separated into the Theorist, bound to complete a plan of Multiversal re-creation regardless of the tragic cost.
