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    \$\begingroup\$ I think this question has to do with game balance in regards to the designers' intent, and cannot be easily answered accurately - other than saying "Spells do what they say they can do." Meaning - everything given will be conjecture and opinion. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Apr 6, 2021 at 7:26
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    \$\begingroup\$ @PlayPatrice the question asks for an in-universe reason, not a gameplay one, so it's not designer-intent. (It's entirely possible that there has never been any published in-universe explanation for the unusual interaction of the spells, but that doesn't make the question invalid - it just means the right answer would be "noone knows".) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Apr 6, 2021 at 7:31
  • \$\begingroup\$ Okay, fair enough, it will be interesting to see where this goes. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Apr 6, 2021 at 7:31
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    \$\begingroup\$ @AlexanderBetts just FYI, there is another spell which is (mostly) impervious to dispel magic - a prismatic wall's first 6 layers are also immune to being dispelled in this way, and must be dealt with before the last violet layer can be dispelled. You may also be interested to know that the resilience of prismatic wall/sphere and wall of force against dispel magic goes all the way back to 1st edition AD&D (though as far as I can tell a lore justification for this resilience is not given in the 1e PHB where it describes the spells). \$\endgroup\$ Commented Apr 6, 2021 at 7:44
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    \$\begingroup\$ Oh, and also antimagic field (known in 1e as anti-magic shell), though in that case the fact that it is unaffected by dispel magic doesn't seem like it requires any explanation. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Apr 6, 2021 at 7:46