Can Irri/Jhiqui attach to moribund:dead characters to avoid their own deaths?

By Vaapad, in 2. AGoT Rules Discussion

Say I have irri on the table along with 1 other targ character (Dany, for example) and no saves. My opponent Valars. Valar resolves, and both characters go moribund:dead. Now Irri's passive kicks in, allowing her to attach to a targ character as a handmaiden attachment instead of being killed. Can she attach to the moribund Dany so that, at the end of the action window, she is discarded as an attachment rather than killed as a character? I see no reason why not, but figured I'd ask to make sure.

Well, if it worked as you describe it above (characters become "moribund:dead" and then Irri's replacement effect kicks in), it would not work.

Luckily, though, Irri's replacement effect kicks in before she becomes "moribund:dead" from the kill, so instead of Valar making her a "moribund:dead" character, it makes her a (non-moribund) attachment. Then, when passive effects kick in, the attachment is discarded because it is attached to a moribund character.

Long story short, it works to put her into the discard pile instead of the dead pile, but your timing is just a little off.

Thanks Ktom.

To clarify the timing structure then. Valar initiates in Step 1. There are no saves or cancels in Step 2. Valar resolves in Step 3. Isn't that where characters go moribund:dead? I thought so, and that Irri's passive text, which triggers in Step 4, effectively changes her from a moribund:dead character to an attachment, so long as she has a valid target to which to attach. I thought thr same was true of character agendas. What, then, is the correct timing for these characters with passive text relating to when they would be killed?

Irri (and the character agendas) are replacement effects, not passives. If Irri became "moribund:dead" in Step 3, before her effect took place, she'd become a moribund:dead attachment. Remember that once something is moribund, it STAYS moribund.

Irri's effect changes the way Valar resolves for her. In Step 3, when Valar kills her, she becomes a (non-moribund) attachment INSTEAD of making her "moribund:dead." Same thing for the character agendas. They never become "moribund:dead" for Valar. INSTEAD, they become "moribund:agenda." It's that "instead" wording that lets you know you're looking at a replacement effect that changes what happens in Step 3, not a passive effect that initiates in Step 4.

Great, thanks - I mistakenly thought the "instead" was passive text that changed the moribund destination (and, via the golden rule, broke the general rule that moribund states can't change).