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So Yvraine is pretty cool, and I love her model, but I really thought she was going to end up being Lady Malys when she was first revealed. The reasons for my suspicions:

* "A regal eldar lady with a fan, sword, and gown," sounds a lot like what you'd expect to see in the description of a Lady Malys model. Granted, the model has rune armor, but that could just as easily have been explained away as a ghost shield or some more obscure rune ward to explain the 4+ invul save Malys used to have.

* Malys is Yvraine's matron/sponsor in the Comorraghn arenas. You can chalk this up to a lot of things; Malys has her fingers in a lot of pies. Still, it says to me that whomever wrote Yvraine's story had Malys in mind. It almost seems like a way of giving Malys a little nod of attention after her fan-wielding model was repurposed to fit the back story of some new lady.

* Both have connections to gods. Yeah, this is a bit of a stretch, but Malys is strongly hinted to basically be possessed by Cegorach, and Yvraine is... well... Yvraine. Add in their little paragraph in Fall of Biel-Tan about how Yvraine and pals have become reminiscent of a modern incarnation of the eldar goddess trio of old, and it almost feels like someone was kicking around a trio of deific heralds that didn't quite get off the ground.

* Harlequins just sort of show up next to Yvraine and go, "Yo. You're the chosen one." This seems like it would have flowed more organically if they were the established harlequin allies of Malys.

I also sort of suspect that the Visarch may have originally been intended to be a reborn Yriel.
* The Visarch's backstory is basically, "I'm super mysterious, but also I was your teacher back in the day." Which feels sort of... rushed and half thought out? I'm happy to embrace any character development this guy gets, but he really smells of last minute concept change.

* Yriels' death happens and then un-happens so fast that it's more awkward than awesome. I got the impression that his death was meant to have a lot more impact. I could see Yriel giving up his old name and become "The Visarch" in order to fulfill the prophecy of his spear which would now have its blade transmuted into a sword to reflect the utter transformation the character had undergone. Instead, it's just kind of "Oh no! He's dead! Oh wait, he's better now. Gosh this Yvraine lady is neat!"

I'm probably stretching, but my brain keeps seeing all these little connections. Thoughts?

This thought had also crossed my mind based solely on appearance. I haven’t read any of the fluff to be honest.

There is big hints their origins had to be rewritten quite quick for the release of Gathering storm.

I mean Yvraine backstory can make a bit of sense despite being largely unknow but the Visarch it's just a huge plothole without explanation.

So an Exarch just said F** U to his temple and went rogue just to be with *his loved one* and protect her in Commorragh. Yet no explanation what he did when she was a corsair or why the hell he joined the Incubi (wich didn't allow him to keep an eye on her at all) or why they just don't seem to know each other or trust themselves.

She was, i'm 100% sure. Like to note i call GW out of that when she 1st was revealed lol

I'm not convinced that Yvraine was ever Malys in the fluff, but I absolutely believe that at some point in development her model was indeed meant to represent Malys.

The fan's the big thing for me, especially since Yvraine doesn't have any related rules for it while Malys did.

The fluff? no, the model? YES!

I don;'t know if she was or was not but god damn would she have been a way better protagonist for that story than Yawnvraine and the Valiumarch. When a giant swirly keeper of secrets that doesn't ever talk has a more interesting personality than your two protagonists, your fluff is in a bad spot.

 Burnage wrote:
I'm not convinced that Yvraine was ever Malys in the fluff, but I absolutely believe that at some point in development her model was indeed meant to represent Malys.

The fan's the big thing for me, especially since Yvraine doesn't have any related rules for it while Malys did.

I think the point is that at some point the fluff was completely re-written to change the model from being Lady Malys to Yvraine, a new character. I think anyone with the smallest amount of knowledge on who Malys is said that was her the very second she was first shown off.

I think the whole Fracture of Biel-Tan book was a case of decent story, but feels very rushed, which could have come about due to a complete re-write and an imoveable deadline. The Visarch for instance, is in desperate need of some fluff, like where the feth did he get a hold of armour remeniscent of the old empire and why is he an Incubus?