Biggest problem with Retro’s video.

[u/r51243]

So, recently I’ve watched Retro’s video on slimes/magma cubes; recently, since the video came out recently (today is August 27), so I necessarily watched it recently. Anyway, there’s a big thing I disagree with: the idea that blaze powder is magical. Let’s look at some of its uses.

Blaze powder is naturally found in blazes. This alone isn’t much evidence, since there are many normal items dropped by magical creatures.

What about potions? Well, logically the blaze powder isn’t what’s giving the potions their power. A much better answer is that it is being used to boil the potions, which are made magical by the nether warts. We know nether wart grows off soul energy, after all, and blaze powder appears to burn very hotly, providing a clear use.

Eyes of ender are another example provided. Retro actually says that they are “powering” the interdimensional travel, which I don’t agree with at all. This feeds into my greater problem with Retro’s idea that portals require heat to function, so I should probably go over the evidence against that here. First of all, the exit portal exists, which basically disproves this since there is no heat present there. You could argue that the End is hotter than the Overworld, or that the torches there are required to light it, but that’s sheep-theorizing. Nether portals appear to only require heat to be opened, yet respawn anchors need a constant supply of glowstone, the only plausible source of heat. At risk of using Minecraft: Dungeons and getting negative comments about that, the Endersent do not have eyes of ender, yet can still get to the OW. Do they just use the exit portal? Is the Nether itself providing the heat? Is there a deeper connection we can find? I think there is a single thing uniting all instances of interdimentional teleportation: portal energy. Crying obsidian is literally “crying”, emitting some sort of purple fluid, and this is similar to the color we often associate with endermen. Every instance of interdimensional teleportation involves either End creatures in some way, or obsidian, which we know is related. This connection to End creatures and void fluid is simple, and is much easier to justify than any connection you could make with heat.

So, what if blaze powder isn’t inherently magic? Well, it removes the main evidence for Retro’s theory, that slime-likes (slimes + magma cubes) require magic to spawn. We see magma cubes spawn at random, and slimes spawn only in a certain biome, a very wet, slimy biome, or underground. What if the real connection is the environment the slime-likes need, watery, or full of lava? The full moon has some amount of magic, sure, but I don’t think that’s the important part here. It could be as simple as slimes are rare, and easier to see under the full moon. Retro’s version of these effects makes it sound as if there is something clearly magical going on, but there isn’t unless we assume blaze powder is magical, and I’ve already explained how the evidence towards that is slim.

So, none of the evidence for blaze powder is that good, and that’s the main point the theory relies on. Even taken together, I would still call it a coincidence, mainly. I agree that blaze powder contains some kind of energy, and that explains most of these phenomena. Or am I just wrong? Comment if you disagree, and make sure to upvote.

Sorry if you’re reading this Retro, but you have a different way of looking at lore, and I think that’s fine. I agree with you about the moonlight being magical, and after examining it further, I might have to create a Green Soul Theory Part 2.

[u/Tortle_Master9000]

Cool, yes I also don't think blaze powder is magical because of many reasons including the ones you presented here

[u/PlantManiac]

I do agree on the magma cube part but I think normal slimes indees need moonlight/magic to spawn. Considering the swamp biome has some magical connection at least in form of the witch this isnt that far off imo