Welcome back, Loreseekers! Today I'm here to give you the rundown on Tarkir, a plane that has undergone a lot of changes over the years. Tarkir is known for two things: the dragons and their broods, and the wedge-aligned clans. Note that Tarkir is actually the earliest story available in the story archive online, if you want to read all the side stories, especially the character-focused ones, feel free. I'll only be linking the core story chapters and worldbuilding, here. That's a lot to cover, so let's dive in!

59 ME (Mending Era): Khans of Tarkir

Khans of Tarkir Bundle Art by Jason Chan

• Planeswalker's Guide to Khans of Tarkir, Part 1
• Planeswalker's Guide to Khans of Tarkir, Part 2
• The Madness of Sarkhan
• Sorin's Revelation
• Journey to the Nexus
• A New Tarkir of Old
• Unwritten

The original Khans of Tarkir is a version of the plane that only exists in Sarkhan's memories. In this version of Tarkir, 1,200 years ago Nicol Bolas arrived and killed his brother and rival, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. Without Ugin, the Dragon Tempests of Tarkir died out, as did the dragons themselves. Five clans, each led by a khan, reigned supreme over the plane.

Sarkhan Vol revered the ancient dragons, so much that he transformed into one and wiped out his Mardu allies, with the Mardu Khan, Zurgo Helmsmasher vowing vengeance. After being manipulated and used by Nicol Bolas for years, Sarkhan returned home with a piece of hedron from Zendikar. Ever since his time at the Eye of Ugin, a mysterious voice spoke to him, driving him onward, back home to Tarkir. When he returned, he met and befriended Narset, Enlightened Master, and together they traveled to the Tomb of the Spirit Dragon. They're pursued by Zurgo, who wanted to kill Sarkhan for his crimes against the Mardu. Unable to catch him in time, Zurgo kills Narset just as Sarkhan travels through the Nexus of Fate.

Around the same time, Sorin Markov arrives to seek Ugin's help with Nahiri and the Eldrazi, only to find the spirit dragon's bones and lose all hope.

1,221 to -1,219 ME: Fate Reforged and Khanfall

Fate Reforged art by Jason Chan

• Planeswalker's Guide to Fate Reforged
• The Reforged Chain
• Khanfall

Sarkhan arrives 1,200 years in the past, to the Crux of Fate during Nicol Bolas and Ugin's fateful duel. Bolas had learned of Ugin's plans to imprison him on Ixalan, and ambushed his brother before he was ready. After Bolas had departed, Sarkhan's hedron blossomed, cocooning the dying spirit dragon in the Crucible of the Spirit Dragon, and letting him heal from his wounds.

Ugin's convalescence caused the Dragon Tempests to spawn out of control, giving the five dragon broods of the era the upper hand against the clans over the next two years. In an event called Khanfall, the dragons finally usurped the khans, installing themselves as Dragonlords and erasing any part of the culture of the clans they didn't like. In secret, many worked at this time to preserve the ways of the clans in places the dragons would never find.

Note that Ugin's reveal in this set was a big deal at the time, as he had been whispering in Sarkhan Vol's ear since the original Zendikar block five years earlier. Who Ugin was had been hotly speculated on for five years.

1,203 ME: Core 2019 - Chronicle of Bolas

Crux of Fate by Michael Komarck

• Chronicle of Bolas: The Twins
• Chronicle of Bolas: The First Lesson
• Chronicle of Bolas: Things Unseen
• Chronicle of Bolas: Whispers of Treachery
• Chronicle of Bolas: Blood and Fire
• Chronicle of Bolas: A Familiar Stranger
• Chronicle of Bolas: Perspectives
• Chronicle of Bolas: The Unwritten Now

While technically attached to Core 2019, the Chronicle of Bolas laid a lot of groundwork for what was to come in the story. It takes place almost two decades after Khanfall and follows former Khan Yasova Dragonclaw, who had worked with Bolas to kill Ugin. She once believed it would end the reign of dragons on Tarkir, but she got Dragonlord Atarka instead. The story follows her journey with her granddaughters, one of whom is secretly a Whisperer, a shaman of the Temur preserving their legacy.

Yasova's story frames the history of Nicol Bolas and Ugin, from their spawning by The Ur-Dragon to their falling out and Nicol's increasing megalomania. Yasova and her family learn the history of the elder dragons, including Ugin discovering the mysterious Spirit Realm, and being reborn by its power when Bolas kills him for the first time. Yasova and her granddaughters successfully trick Bolas into thinking Ugin is dead by implying Ugin left behind a final trap for Nicol, playing at the cruel elder dragon's insecurity.

59 ME: Dragons of Tarkir

Dragons of Tarkir Bundle Art by Jason Chan

• Planeswalker's Guide to Dragons of Tarkir, Part 1
• Planeswalker's Guide to Dragons of Tarkir, Part 2
• A Tarkir of Dragons
• The Great Teacher's Student
• Sorin's Restoration
• Unbroken and Unbowed

1,200 years after Khanfall, the Dragonlords rule Tarkir, and each of the clans has been reworked into their image. Sorin awakens Ugin from his slumber, and Ugin begins to prepare to deal with the Eldrazi and his brother. Sarkhan revels in this new Tarkir, but there are already cracks in the Dragonlords' domains. Narset Transcendent believed wholeheartedly in Dragonlord Ojutai, only to find the lies underpinning everything she had been taught in a secret Jeskai vault. Still, she was conflicted. Rebellions based on the lore of long-lost clans begin to form.

60 ME: War of the Spark

Prison Realm by Daarken

• War of the Spark: Ravnica

While Bolas enacted his master plan, Ugin worked behind the scenes in secret to find a way to defeat him. When Liliana, Dreadhorde General turned on Bolas, Desparking him, Ugin swooped in and whisked him away while Jace made everyone think Bolas was killed. Ugin brought Bolas to the Meditation Realm, which was to become his Prison Realm. This left Ugin unable to interfere with Tarkir, as he was preoccupied maintaining his brother's prison.

62 ME: March of the Machine

Zurgo and Ojutai by Daarken

• March of the Machine

During the Phyrexian Invasion, old lines crumbled as enemies were forced to work together to defeat the Phyrexians. The battles revealed to the rebels that the Dragonlords' grip wasn't as tight as it once was, and plans began in earnest to overthrow them.

64 ME: Tarkir - Dragonstorm

Art by Liiga Smilshkalne

• Planeswalker's Guide to Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Part 1
• Planeswalker's Guide to Tarkir: Dragonstorm Part 2

Sometime between the Invasion and the modern day, the five rebellion leaders use the Stormnexus Ritual to spawn five spirit dragons, each of which is shaped by that leader's vision of the future and their clans. The Dragonlords and newly formed spirit dragons clash, and the Dragonlords are defeated and swallowed up by the massive storm created by the ritual.

Today, Tarkir is once again ruled by five clans, but with several key differences. First, the clans have incorporated dragons, both from the original dragon broods and newly spawned dragons that fit into their clan ethos. They still battle against dragons like they once did, but now they battle the wild dragons spawning out-of-control since the Stormnexus Ritual.

Each clan's culture has evolved from what they were under the Dragonlords, embracing and rejecting pieces of their past while also incorporating the ancient lore long kept hidden. Narset leads a Jeskai that is very similar to what they once were, while a new khan leads a Sultai who has rejected the avarice of the Rakshasa and the dragons and built something largely new. The Mardu, thanks to Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate, never truly lost their culture, but in a world where they can finally stop to rest, they're building new bonds of community. They're led by Zurgo, who has bulked up in the last five years.

The Abzan have rebuilt family houses with the help of ancestor spirits from the last Kin-Trees, and cuttings of the trees have been planted far and wide to re-establish their bonds to their ancestors. The Temur have recaptured a culture that is no longer teetering on the edge of starvation, thanks to the Whisperers, the sect of shamans who were kept secret and protected by their clan for a millennia.

And that catches you up with events just in time for Tarkir: Dragonstorm's seven episode story, which debuts in March and was written by Cassandra Khaw. As the capstone of the dragonstorm arc, it's not a story you're going to want to miss.