Guild Wars 2

I got an idea on what “Aether” And “Ether” might be in guild wars 2. How about matter and antimatter? This ties a lot together as npcs like speak of those as what everything is built off. Its 2 quite simmelar words. And maybe just people havent tought of this? Can this be possible?

I do wonder if the difference is significant. It is something interesting the players picked up but it could just be some magical-mumbo-jumbo anet put in their dialogues without any thought.

Could you explain why you think it is matter and antimatter?

its the same thing. Sometimes it was spelled as Ether sometimes as Aether

The very original spelling of the world “Ether” is actually Æther. Over time it became spelled as “aether” and then “ether” – other variants such as aither exist as well. All are just different spellings of the same name. Aether and Ether are pronounced the same and refer to the same stuff.

Matter and anti-matter are completely different things from Ether, by the way. Ether is metaphysical (more or less) while matter is what makes up everything we can see and touch; and in most fictional works, anti-matter is meant to be the opposite of matter (but still physical) that would result in mutual destruction if coming in contact with matter. However, no mention of anti-matter exists in the GWverse.

Is it actually the same thing in GW2 though?

We do after all have skills like Ether Feast and Ether Signet, but at the same time we also have Aetherblades. Wouldn’t it be logical to spell them the same if they do indeed mean the same thing?

Thanks guys! Do you know if we’l get more information on this Ether, Aether, æther and so on?

Konig Des Todes.2086:

… and in most fictional works, anti-matter is meant to be the opposite of matter (but still physical) that would result in mutual destruction if coming in contact with matter.

I feel the need to point out that this is somewhat close to the definition of anti-matter in real world physics, so it’s not terribly surprising that many fictional works use it as such. Wikipedia’s article on anti-matter is half-decent.

lordkrall.7241:

Is it actually the same thing in GW2 though?

We do after all have skills like Ether Feast and Ether Signet, but at the same time we also have Aetherblades. Wouldn’t it be logical to spell them the same if they do indeed mean the same thing?

As far as all we know, it is the same. “Ether” in GW seems to basically be spiritual/energy based material (much like the original concept of Ether, being the material that light travels through/heaven is made from) if you look at the things like Ethereal Vanguard – then you have the bow Aether which is a spiritual bow.

Why the Aetherblades are called such is a good question, since they don’t seem to hold any ties to Ether/Aether. And the spelling “Aether” is only ever used for the bow and the Aetherblade stuff.

Remembered this: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/who-are-the-aetherblades/

“The word “aether” has air and magic connotations, and “blades” helps convey the swashbuckling side of pirates.”

It doesn’t explain lore-wise why the aetherblades are called that way, just the devs process. But it does give some insight. I’d say aether can be defined as ‘the magic in the air’: mesmers pull energy out of thin air to cast ether bolt for example.

I always thought of the difference between “ether”, and “aether” as this.
“Ether” is the very primal, chaotic magic/energy/substance that all things in the GW world is derived from.
“Aether” is an artificially created/conjured/whatever version of that. Still primal, and chaotic. But under normal conditions can be produced, and dispelled without worry.

they use this word too much

It’s just to represent differing stylistic approaches used by the groups in Tyria.