2023 Majisto GWP

[Cchiola]

On 8/10/2023 at 11:45 PM, Aanchir said:

It doesn't really bother me so much since even in the 90s, his "alignment" varied wildly from story to story. To give just a few examples:

• In the Summer 1993 issue of Bricks & Pieces Magazine, Majisto (or rather "Merlin", as he was named in Great Britain) was a benevolent wizard affiliated with the Dragon Knights.
   
• In this comic from Disney Adventures magazine, he is a villain who independently opposes the Dragon Knights. His foes are identified as "Black Knights" in the comic's text, but all the visuals representing them are clearly based on Dragon Knights/Dragon Masters sets and minifigs.
   
• In the Timebuster comics from the Austrian LEGO Klick magazine, he is the villainous leader of the Dragon Knights, and is opposed by the heroic King Lionheart and his Royal Knights.
   
• Conversely, in several of the German audio dramas, Majisto (or rather "Cerlin", as he was named in Germany) is on very friendly terms with King Lionheart of the Royal Knights. Notably, in earlier German promotional comics, the leader of set 6080's Lion Knights was named Prince Lionheart — seemingly implying that the two are related, or even the same character at different stages in life!
   
• The "Adventures of the LEGO Maniac" comic from the July 1995 issue of LEGO Mania Magazine shows Majisto teaming up with the skeleton and ghost from Royal Knights set 6090 to harass the Royal King and his knights by throwing them into their own dungeon! That said, this comic does not feature the Dragon Knights at all — just Majisto and his dragon.

For my part, I like to imagine that this modern incarnation of Majisto from 10305 operates independently and is freely allowed to come and go wherever he is needed or wherever he can conduct his magical work in peace. After all, much like the land of Tarenta in the German audio dramas, this set's flavor text seems to describe a time of relative peace and stability, interrupted only by bandit raids by outlaw factions, or occasional unrest within the various knight factions. And this upcoming GWP is likely to fit nicely into that framework, since it gives Merlin his own workshop to conduct magical research and business from, rather than forcing him to reside permanently with any of the knight factions.
 

The same sort of ambiguity and contradictions are present in Fright Knights stories from the 90s. For example, the comics from the European LEGO Klick magazine tend to present Willa and her dragons as enemies of Basil and his knights, whereas stories and comics from the American LEGO Mania Magazine tend to present them them as a unified faction.

The "Adventures of the LEGO Maniac" comic from the January 1997 issue of LEGO Mania Magazine also shows Willa imprisoning the Royal King, and the Fright Knights sets themselves show Basil's knights imprisoning the Royal King's knights and soldiers. But it's hard to say whether that indicates any actual military hostilities between these two factions, or whether the Fright Knights are simply a solitary people with a generally hostile attitude towards intruders.

In the continuity of 10305, I like to imagine that Majisto and Willa maintain a professional and familial rivalry, which may be friendly at times and antagonistic at others, but unlikely to escalate into outright warfare like feuds between rival factions of knights have been known to do in the past.

Hi! I wanted to ask if I could use some images/scans from your magazines for a YouTube video content, while crediting you as the source.