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Panopticon
Panopticon
Information
Plane New Phyrexia

Panopticon, the Darksteel Citadel, was a fortress inside of the hollow plane of Mirrodin.[1][2] It later became the Seedcore and Elesh Norn's Throne Room[3]

Description[ | ]

Made from an indestructible metal called darksteel, from here the mad golem Memnarch controlled his artifact minions and watched over his world through the eyes of his creations, the myr.[4] In his device, the Darksteel Eye, the world is viewable from the perspective of these artifact creatures.

Memnarch also had his Ascension Web built here by Slobad while he hibernated in anticipation of Glissa Sunseeker's return to the core of Mirrodin.[5]

After Karn was infected by the glistening oil inside him, he retreated to Mirrodin's Core, from whenceforth the contagion spread to form New Phyrexia. During his time as Father of Machines, the Panopticon was converted into his throne, protected by Elesh Norn's priests, instructing him to be Phyrexia's head and keeping him in line. However, Jin-Gitaxias' servants hijacked it to control the flow of information.[6]

After the rise of Elesh Norn, she restored the Panopticon to its full functionality.[7] Tezzeret visited it with the recaptured Karn's head to use the Darksteel Eye. The restored Panopticon cannot view Urabrask's domain or Norn's sanctum in the Mycosynth Gardens.

It was later renamed the "Throne Room" and converted into a prison for Karn. Elesh Norn planted essence from Kaldheim's World Tree in Karn's empty seat.[3] From this grew the Seedcore and Realmbreaker.[3]

Gallery[ | ]

In-game references[ | ]

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Trivia[ | ]

  • In the real world, the Panopticon is a special prison design where the jailers can see all prisoners at all times from a tower in the center. Because the prisoners cannot see the guards in the tower, they must assume they are being watched at all times even if the tower is empty. The idea of the Panopticon is often used as a thought experiment to explore the potential of ubiquitous mass surveillance.

References[ | ]

  1. Magic Arcana (December 02, 2009). "Watching the Panopticon". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. Doug Beyer (September 02, 2009). "The Planes of Planechase". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  3. a b c Grace Fong (January 31, 2023). "Planeswalker's Guide to Phyrexia: All Will Be One". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. Magic Arcana (May 15, 2007). "Memnarch and the Panopticon". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. Cory Herndon (2004), The Fifth Dawn, Wizards of the Coast
  6. Magic Creative Team (April 20, 2011). "A Planeswalker's Guide to New Phyrexia: The Progress Engine". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. Reinhardt Suarez (October 25, 2022). "The Brothers' War - Chapter 3: Nemesis". Magicthegathering.com.
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