Is Jace Dead in MTG? Reality Fracture Explained

If you finished the Reality Fracture story wondering whether Magic actually killed Jace Beleren, the answer is yes. Jace dies at the end of the story after Vraska stabs him through the heart, but Wizards leaves one major wrinkle behind through Tam.

Is Jace Really, Really Dead in Reality Fracture?

Yup, Jace Beleren is really most sincerely dead at the end of Reality Fracture. His body dies, his pulse stops and he is eventually given a funeral on Vryn. This isn't another apparent death or a case where Jace simply disappears before Wizards can confirm what happened.

The important part is why Jace dies (because the writers said so, duh).

As the different pieces of his fractured personality come back together, Jace realizes that his connection to the Echoverse is allowing it to overwrite the original Multiverse. The only way to sever that connection is for Jace himself to die.

Vraska is the one who ultimately does it, driving an Ochran dagger into Jace's heart. Jace understands what has to happen and accepts it rather than trying to stop her.

It's a pretty definitive ending for a character who has been one of Magic's central planeswalkers for years.

What Happens to Jace's Spark?

After Jace dies, his spark leaves his body and travels to Tam. That wasn't an accident. Jace had created Tam as a kind of fail-safe and planned for her to inherit the spark if he died.

Tam doesn't simply become Jace in a new body, though. She remains her own person while also inheriting parts of Jace, including his spark and more of his telepathic abilities.

Jace's final message makes that idea pretty clear. The spark was part of him, and now it belongs to Tam.

That also gives Wizards a way to continue pieces of Jace's story without immediately undoing his death. Tam can planeswalk after receiving the spark, and the ending presents her as both herself and, in some ways, a continuation of Jace.

Could Jace Come Back?

This is Magic, so saying any major character can never return is probably asking for trouble. Still, Reality Fracture goes much further than a typical ambiguous death.

Jace's body is dead, Vraska mourns him and he receives a funeral on Vryn. The story doesn't leave much room for the idea that the original Jace simply escaped somewhere.

What it does leave behind is Tam.

Jace Beleren is dead, but part of what made him Jace now continues through her. Reality Fracture didn't just kill one of Magic's most recognizable planeswalkers. It also gave him a successor. But, is Jace really dead in Reality Fracture?