KotS King Robert and Reinforcement Events

By EGG2, in 2. AGoT Rules Discussion

Robert Baratheon:

Unique Baratheon character. Cost = 4. STR = 3. Icon = Mil, Pow. Crest = Noble. Trait = Lord, King. Renown.

If Robert Baratheon is the only King character in play, he gains: " Any Phase: Kneel Robert Baratheon to play an 'Any Phase' event card from your discard pile as if you just played it from your hand. Then, shuffle that event card back into your deck."

A quick search of all legal Any Phase events shows that the Reinforcement Events are in that group and I'm wondering if their becoming a character prevents them from being shuffled back into the deck?

I would say it doesn't prevent them from being shuffled. Looks like Robert's lasting effect would shuffle them back into the deck after the reinforcement resolves (is put into play).

Actually, that's not the case.

Robert says to shuffle the "event card" back into the deck. But when the card becomes a character, it stops being an "event card" and is only considered a character until it is specifically removed from play (see FAQ). So technically, once the Reinforcement event resolves and becomes a character, there is no "event card" to shuffle back into your deck and Robert's lasting effect "fizzles."

Hmm...very cool. I hadn't realized that they lose their event type. On a somewhat related note, what happens if you blank the textbox a reinforcement? I assume it's the same as when you blank any other character's text box?

foxpillow said:

On a somewhat related note, what happens if you blank the textbox a reinforcement? I assume it's the same as when you blank any other character's text box?

The easiest way to answer this question is with another question. Suppose I had a location that said "Kneel to put the top card of your deck into play, face down, as a character with 3 STR, a Military icon, Stealth and Renown." Let's say I trigger that location. Then you use an effect to blank the text on that location or even discard it from play. What happens to my face-down card that is now a character? Does it lose its STR? Icons? Stealth or Renown?

In this example, it is pretty easy to see that nothing happens to my face-down card if something happens to the location that made it, right? The effect that created the "token character" has already resolved and there is no continuing effect that maintains its stats, characteristics, icons, etc. So the character doesn't depend on anything else.

Well, the Reinforcement events are like that, too, except that the effect that creates the token character is printed on the card that actually becomes the token character. Since blanking effects only take out the printed text box and nothing printed in the event-made-character's text box that maintains its stats, characteristics, icons, etc., blanking the Reinforcement character doesn't do anything useful. You can't blank out a lasting effect once it has been activated, which is what you're dealing with here.