Guild Wars 2

As the title says, how did Scarlet build such a huge marionette in secret, and where?
We’ve found Scarlet’s lair, but unless you have like a massive underground lair beneath it, where are you going to store such a monstrous robot, without anyone noticing? And where did she hide that UFO for that matter?

And how do you build such a giant machine? Surely not by yourself? Where do you find the craftsmen and materials to construct such an over-the-top creation? I can’t wrap my head around it. Sure, it looks nice…. but HOW? WHERE?

Well, seeing as she could have a secret hideout for MONTHS under one of the Order of Tyrias main HQ I don’t really think far fetched to assume she have other, bigger, facilities hidden around Tyria.

She does have the assistance of quite a few skilled groups when it comes to those things (the Aetherblades do use Airships and such after all). And she is quite smart.

Well, obviously the Scarlet story arc will end with us going to the Maguuma Wastes, we will find massive workplaces/factories and stuff. When we finally kill her at her true headquarters there and our demolitionists lay waste to all her stuff, we wake Mordremoth and the next story arc/dragon plot will begin.

Well, i was bout to create a topic about the supsension of disbelief the storytellers expect from us right now and mostly with the current update.

Do not get me wrong. I know a certain amount is always needed and i understand that on paper everything looked fine. However one of the mainproblems is the time the information we got is distributet, causing a lot of WTF moments for me and i expect others.

Why does no one really care about Scarlet?
Let`s face it. No one really does something against her. The only ones we know of are our faboulous five.
She is menacing the lands for over a year and no one took action. Rythlock himself does apearently not really care about her, using her as a “test” for Rox to show her worth.
The Order pop up here and there “investigating” the effects, but do not seem to look for the source.
For me, no one is actually putting effort into it.
I mean, she is building armies, giant robots and flying fortresses. There are magical readings to pick up, energysources and reccources to follow.
These things do not appear out of thin air (holographic technique exepted, but that does not count). If you do something this big, you always leave a trail.
So… are the people of Tyria just incompetent?
I mean, at the jubilee we cracked her portal code one time. Why did no one improve on that?
Why did nobody do anything? Even simple scent hounds would have been able to find something.

Heck she does build whole facilities and labratories right under our very noses and no one does see it or find it suspecious?
I know “if you want to hide something, do it where everyone can see it.” However this is getting way to far.

Why did no one take a look at these probes?
Yes, we wanted foreshadowing. Okay… but you have to admit: Putting these out a month before and do nothing with them was not very practical.
Yes it drove the theories to Primodorus, but at the same time it baffles me that no one in Tyria (again) mentioned these things or did something with them.

By this point the whole system of Tyria feels like the bad cops in an 80s action show, while the “only” competent people do something.

Why is the Marionette a genius idea?
Okay, it looks interesting and is her perception of the world.
However as a weapon it is the stupiest thing i have ever seen.
It`s attack radius is about 200 m max, even with it`s laser of doom.
It needs an outside powersource to power this weapon up and a complicated set up of giant flying UFO and apearently five additional power generators to work.
Even if you take the portal technology into acount, this thing is not something you would use as an offensive, but defensive weapon to guard something.

Even if the power problem is taken care off, it still needs the chains to keep its balance.
Tyria has a lot of technology and magic which is able to sever these.

She is openly testing this thing. We know it exists. There is apearently ample time to get some defensive installments done, before these things will hit anything.

Nobody is this perfect
Yes i get it, she is smart, she has a lot of “help” or something.
However what she is doing is way over anybodys head. It is not like she is doing it in plain sight, by being public about it and suddenly changes something into a weapon, like a real smart villain would do.
No, she just has it… and it was there all the time. We just never saw it…
Where was it? In the mists? Not being programmed?
No hints, no signs, no anything.

Yes, there are limits to what you can do and to be fair, this was one of the better patches, however in context the whole thing wants me to run against a wall.
There are just so many “stupid” things that do not make the plot feel smart, but like a bad cartoon.
What is next? The MA pulling out the turtles Technodrome, as they build their own Black Citadel steam powered tank?

Jaken.6801:

She is openly testing this thing. We know it exists. There is apearently ample time to get some defensive installments done, before these things will hit anything.

Clearly. If Scarlet can pull giant factories and gigantic robots out of her backside in a matter of weeks, then surely we can put up some defenses in a few days. Especially since we now all know that she has a giant robot.

Anyone willing to bet that Lion’s Arch and Divinity’s Reach put up zero defenses?

Jaken.6801:

However what she is doing is way over anybodys head. It is not like she is doing it plain sight, by being public about it and suddenly changes something into a weapon, like a real smart villain would do.

Exactly. If this thing was disguised as something harmless, it would make sense how she could build it under our noses. But that is not the case. Where DID this thing come from?

Jaken.6801:

What is next? The MA pulling out the turtles Technodrome, as they build their own Black Citadel steam powered tank?

I’m waiting for Scarlet’s Technodrome, it will be epic. And then later she can steal Lion’s Arch by lifting it into the sky, or reverse gravity, making everything fall up instead of down… because!

Scarlet’s Technodrome will feature the following:

• 972 rooms.
• A trans-dimensional portal used to transport people and objects through the Mists.
• Eyeball missile launchers.
• 5 trident-shaped laser cannons: two located at the top of the Technodrome at each side of the eye, two on its sides, and one on its front.
• 2 large laser cannons that can be deployed with multiple eyeball missile racks.
• A mounted surveillance eye on the top.
• A Watchwork Guardian factory.
• Aetherblade Training facilities.
• Three-foot-thick titanium armour.
• Huge tank treads, used to move the Technodrome across land or underground from each location.
• Robot walker legs that can be used instead of tank treads.
• Gigantic saw blades and cutting devices.
• Pedal Power Generator, for emergency power.
• Large holding cells.
• Earthquake machine.
• Various giant drilling mechanisms (as hinted at in her lair).
• Motor pool area that houses Steam Powered Tanks and technorovers.
• Trap Door in the center of the main control room.
• Airship deck that houses several airships.
• Classical Canthan Dojo Rooms.
• Balance control.
• Anti-gravitation generators making the technodrome able to hover slightly above the ground.
• Disintegrator Unit.
• Relay Room.
• Engine Room.
• Alchemy Room.
• Laundry Room.
• No restrooms.

well she does have a base in twilight arbor, and she has used mesmer magic to conceal large structures at least twice now (aetherblade ships and the tower of nightmares). it’s not far fetched to think she’d have employed the same efficient tactic again.

When it comes to the Lore Slayer and logic, the less question you ask the better.

But to be fair, Tyria is a large land. There are many places to hide. But the lack of effort from the Pact to find her is indeed puzzling. Building something this huge will require a huge mining operation somewhere. And farms to feed the workers.

I hasn’t played the new update yet. But I heard that they are putting in serious efforts to fix the story up. I doubt everything will be answered. But it doesn’t matter anymore. Just treat the Lore Slayer as a kids’ cartoon villain. Meanwhile, enjoy the loots and have fun. The game play is pretty good I heard.

CHIPS.6018:

But the lack of effort from the Pact to find her is indeed puzzling.

The Pact have nothing at all to do with Scarlet though.

They are created for one purpose, and one purpose alone, to combat the Elder Dragons.

@Malafide: You, missy, get +1000 Internet points for awesome TMNT nostalgia.

Zaxares.5419:

@Malafide: You, missy, get +1000 Internet points for awesome TMNT nostalgia.

Thank you darling.

The Pact is the ultimate union of some of the best military minds in all of Tyria encompassing all disciplines of warfare. Each with their own agendas and priorities. Each did not just come together for one purpose.

The purpose of the Pact Treaty is to vanquish the Elder Dragons and all threats that cannot be met by any single Order acting on its own – especially in regards to any form of Dragon corruption.

Through the skill, guile and reach of the Agents of the Order of Whispers and the knowledge and research prowess of the Durmond Priory and the military organisation of the Vigil it would be impossible to move supplies of a titanic scale required to build even a single Marionette without the notice of the Pact!

The truth is Tyria through the Pact would have at the very least would have been prepared for Scarlet from the beginning. And not just from this current Marionette and Wurms threat.

Each of the organisations are international in their reach drawing members from all the races of Tyria aaaaaand with the backing and full support of the governing bodies of all five of the major races. Thus this threat as it has been presented and thrown at us has resulted in numerous Lore question marks that has grown with each new “Living Story” release.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

As the title says, how did Scarlet build such a huge marionette in secret, and how?
We’ve found Scarlet’s lair, but unless you have like a massive underground lair beneath it, where are you going to store such a monstrous robot, without anyone noticing? And where did she hide that UFO for that matter?

And how do you build such a giant machine? Surely not by yourself? Where do you find the craftsmen and materials to construct such an over-the-top creation? I can’t wrap my head around it. Sure, it looks nice…. but HOW? WHERE?

Look at the sky, she have bloody spaceship

Maybe it was built wherever the steam creatures are coming from.

Gnat.9405:

Maybe it was built wherever the steam creatures are coming from.

or the much more likely answer (which i already gave), she hid it with mesmer magic, like she’s done multiple times before.

BrunoBRS.5178:

or the much more likely answer (which i already gave), she hid it with mesmer magic, like she’s done multiple times before.

Which would be pretty boring, dont you think?

More so, it would be a more common tactic in this world. i mean, it is common knowledge that it exists so there should be plenty of ways to detect and dispell it.

Even if we consider the mists as a possible hiding spot, they are also nothing new to this world.
As far as i am concerned the people knew about the mists since GW1, so we have at least 250 years to delve into that area.

So if they do not have the ability to counter mesmer illusions, which can even be destroyed by some run about high society girly (yeah i know her backstory, she had her training, but it still feels kinda weird for me.), i see tyria having a very dark future…

The mists would work, sicne it would go with alternate dimensions, and fractals and the like, but meh… we have enough problems in in one dimension and having used that many times before…
i rather stay in one world, thank you very much.

On the other hand. I want to see the place where she build the thing. I do not think we ever will. However opening a new zone, which is a giant sci fi facility, briming of a blend between steam punk MA and Asuran Aetherblade design with a bit of too annoying green glowing gas and greenery (TA) as well as a creepy dollhouse with Queens Speech smily faces all over would be cool.

The nugatory act of clicking +1 on your post cannot fully stress the level at which I concur with the veridicality of your assemblage of perspicuous assessments.

Jaken.6801:

Well, i was bout to create a topic about the supsension of disbelief the storytellers expect from us right now and mostly with the current update.

Do not get me wrong. I know a certain amount is always needed and i understand that on paper everything looked fine. However one of the mainproblems is the time the information we got is distributet, causing a lot of WTF moments for me and i expect others.

Why does no one really care about Scarlet?
Let`s face it. No one really does something against her. The only ones we know of are our faboulous five.
She is menacing the lands for over a year and no one took action. Rythlock himself does apearently not really care about her, using her as a “test” for Rox to show her worth.
The Order pop up here and there “investigating” the effects, but do not seem to look for the source.
For me, no one is actually putting effort into it.
I mean, she is building armies, giant robots and flying fortresses. There are magical readings to pick up, energysources and reccources to follow.
These things do not appear out of thin air (holographic technique exepted, but that does not count). If you do something this big, you always leave a trail.
So… are the people of Tyria just incompetent?
I mean, at the jubilee we cracked her portal code one time. Why did no one improve on that?
Why did nobody do anything? Even simple scent hounds would have been able to find something.

Heck she does build whole facilities and labratories right under our very noses and no one does see it or find it suspecious?
I know “if you want to hide something, do it where everyone can see it.” However this is getting way to far.

Why did no one take a look at these probes?
Yes, we wanted foreshadowing. Okay… but you have to admit: Putting these out a month before and do nothing with them was not very practical.
Yes it drove the theories to Primodorus, but at the same time it baffles me that no one in Tyria (again) mentioned these things or did something with them.

By this point the whole system of Tyria feels like the bad cops in an 80s action show, while the “only” competent people do something.

Why is the Marionette a genius idea?
Okay, it looks interesting and is her perception of the world.
However as a weapon it is the stupiest thing i have ever seen.
It`s attack radius is about 200 m max, even with it`s laser of doom.
It needs an outside powersource to power this weapon up and a complicated set up of giant flying UFO and apearently five additional power generators to work.
Even if you take the portal technology into acount, this thing is not something you would use as an offensive, but defensive weapon to guard something.

Even if the power problem is taken care off, it still needs the chains to keep its balance.
Tyria has a lot of technology and magic which is able to sever these.

She is openly testing this thing. We know it exists. There is apearently ample time to get some defensive installments done, before these things will hit anything.

Nobody is this perfect
Yes i get it, she is smart, she has a lot of “help” or something.
However what she is doing is way over anybodys head. It is not like she is doing it in plain sight, by being public about it and suddenly changes something into a weapon, like a real smart villain would do.
No, she just has it… and it was there all the time. We just never saw it…
Where was it? In the mists? Not being programmed?
No hints, no signs, no anything.

Yes, there are limits to what you can do and to be fair, this was one of the better patches, however in context the whole thing wants me to run against a wall.
There are just so many “stupid” things that do not make the plot feel smart, but like a bad cartoon.
What is next? The MA pulling out the turtles Technodrome, as they build their own Black Citadel steam powered tank?

Obviously, she built it on her moon base, using rocket dolyaks to transfer the required materials from Tyria.

I agree fully with Jaken; the required suspension of disbelief for this arc is too great, and there are too many plot holes regarding the apparent lack of concern about Scarlet from greater Tyria. For example, how is it that the Order of Whispers haven’t infiltrated the Aetherblades in order to track their movements?

BondageBill.4021:

For example, how is it that the Order of Whispers haven’t infiltrated the Aetherblades in order to track their movements?

How do you know they haven’t?

Answer: Magic.

Seriously, This is GW2- a game where Mesmers can portal you, and Engineers can shrink you. Scarlet just so happens to be an Engineer/Mesmer hybrid.

Kain Francois.4328:

Answer: Magic.

Seriously, This is GW2- a game where Mesmers can portal you, and Engineers can shrink you. Scarlet just so happens to be an Engineer/Mesmer hybrid.

she also hid that homungus tower in plain sight for well over a month.

lordkrall.7241:

BondageBill.4021:

For example, how is it that the Order of Whispers haven’t infiltrated the Aetherblades in order to track their movements?

How do you know they haven’t?

It just so happens that I’m a pretty high ranking member of a certain secret organization, not to be named…

They ain’t told me nuttin’

BondageBill.4021:

lordkrall.7241:

BondageBill.4021:

For example, how is it that the Order of Whispers haven’t infiltrated the Aetherblades in order to track their movements?

How do you know they haven’t?

It just so happens that I’m a pretty high ranking member of a certain secret organization, not to be named…

They ain’t told me nuttin’

the order operates on a need to know basis. can’t risk deserters having too much info.

BrunoBRS.5178:

Gnat.9405:

Maybe it was built wherever the steam creatures are coming from.

or the much more likely answer (which i already gave), she hid it with mesmer magic, like she’s done multiple times before.

Yeah, the tower of nightmares was the mesmer magic. Which I am still questioning who actually did that for the whole tower. Obviously it was not Scarlet herself. Was it the Nightmare Court, Krait, tower itself, or some other third party that gave off that illusion?

However the base in TA, gendarran field’s Aetherblade jumping puzzle, Scarlet’s hideout, Aetherblade retreat, all used heavily modified holographic technology. The same tech that was hijacked during Dragon Bash festival in order to hide most of her base of operations. As well as create the holographic projectors she used frequently in order to trick her adversaries with a recorded projection of herself. Which would leads me to believe that is what she used to hide that UFO/drill ship in the sky above Lornar’s pass. The construction of that UFO/drill ship probably came under the rule of all of all the partnerships she has accumulated since the flame and frost narrative.

As for the Marionette; I think she actually end up building that thing inside the UFO/drill ship. Which in all intended purposes was probably cloaked by her own holographic tech. I also believe that Scarlet has another major base in unknown grounded location. Which allowed her to create the UFO/drill ship without gaining too much attention. Unless she built that thing in one the bases we have already raided, and it was already in flight before we arrived. If that was the case it would have been great for the writers to drop a hint about it back then instead of now.

The queen’s mechanized bodyguards still bugs me, on where did these things originate from. Scarlet’s modifications of the Wachwork Knights she made on the fly seemed a little too convenient at the time of her grand reveal. I know the theory that it’s a follow up creation of Uzolan’s work, but it still leaves too many questions. Nevertheless once Scarlet figured how to modify them for her scheme’s, made the possibility of a giant Marionette duplicate creation became highly probable.

The only problem I am still having with Scarlet’s story so far is trying to fit all of these obscure continuity issues together. Even with her motives coming into light, there is much more that still remains unknown about Scarlet’s overarching narrative. The biggest in my mind is how she was able to get some of those hostile racial factions to work together. It’s still a little hard for me to swallow even with her ability to deliver on just straight promises anarchy and power alone. Her demeanor is not something I would call for being one to pleasantly negotiating any type of partnership. Unless she was like Lucy Liu character O-Ren Ishii (Cottonmouth) in Quentin Tarantino’s movie Kill Bill. Basically loyalty and inspiration out of fear. Even though the only one I kind of get a hint of that going on is with her Aetherblades.

BondageBill.4021:

lordkrall.7241:

BondageBill.4021:

For example, how is it that the Order of Whispers haven’t infiltrated the Aetherblades in order to track their movements?

How do you know they haven’t?

It just so happens that I’m a pretty high ranking member of a certain secret organization, not to be named…

They ain’t told me nuttin’

They told me you were meddlesome, BondageBill, but you haven’t proven you can keep secrets yet. We’ll see next year.

I’m figuring she did it elsewhere and is using her strange portal generators to move that framework there. As for how the lair went unnoticed under the Priory . . . they’ve been busy elsewhere, and it’s been made painfully obvious their interests are more in ancient knowledge rather than current knowledge. It’s the Order of Whispers who keep tabs on current events.

BrunoBRS.5178:

she also hid that homungus tower in plain sight for well over a month.

The thing with that is, we are actually shown how she is hiding that tower. When I was walking around in Kessex Hills, I did not notice that thing at first either. The fact that they let us, the players, discover this hidden building, allowed me to suspend my disbelief.

But with the Marionette, I really have to wonder where she hid it all this time. I’d love to have that question answered. It seems like a reasonable and logical thing to ask.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

BrunoBRS.5178:

she also hid that homungus tower in plain sight for well over a month.

The thing with that is, we are actually shown how she is hiding that tower. When I was walking around in Kessex Hills, I did not notice that thing at first either. The fact that they let us, the players, discover this hidden building, allowed me to suspend my disbelief.

But with the Marionette, I really have to wonder where she hid it all this time. I’d love to have that question answered. It seems like a reasonable and logical thing to ask.

she has a base in twilight arbor. she has an airship fleet that could help her build in some uncharted area of tyria. she has access to holographic technology that can hide said fleet in plain sight.

i don’t see what’s the problem with her being able to build her UFO drill and marionette.

BrunoBRS.5178:

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

BrunoBRS.5178:

she also hid that homungus tower in plain sight for well over a month.

The thing with that is, we are actually shown how she is hiding that tower. When I was walking around in Kessex Hills, I did not notice that thing at first either. The fact that they let us, the players, discover this hidden building, allowed me to suspend my disbelief.

But with the Marionette, I really have to wonder where she hid it all this time. I’d love to have that question answered. It seems like a reasonable and logical thing to ask.

she has a base in twilight arbor. she has an airship fleet that could help her build in some uncharted area of tyria. she has access to holographic technology that can hide said fleet in plain sight.

i don’t see what’s the problem with her being able to build her UFO drill and marionette.

Because it is slowly stretching the things we can belief in, doesn`t it?
She hides so many things under our noses, with the excuse of visual projections that it is not funny anymore.

the tower was a big stretch. It is an open terrain and building that would at least have made some noise.

A giant UFO now and a giant Puppet dangling from it? I don`t know. it is getting a bit out of hand.

Again. This is a magical technical world. She is using things that are not new in this world. People should be able to counter these things by now.
Why are not even the simples ways of detecting these happenigs beeing used?

- Scent hounds
- Spies
- Magic detectors
- Energy readings
- Eyes and ears
- interogations
- searching
- Following obvious clues which are around for months
- Delving into her past
- striking against her lairs
- cracking her computers
- using the knowledge about her portals from the Queens Jubilee
- gathering specialist
- throwng a net over her in the stupid invasions
- get out a bounty (she is working with pirates, isnt she?)
- jump into a portal from her
- …

I am sorry, but one person might be able to hide like that, but not armies and giant UFOs. Furthermore not in plain sight…

Another obvious question that rises is, why not do it less conspicuous? Why not build the Tower of Nightmares somewhere remote, rather than right next to Divinity’s Reach and Lion’s Arch? Unless she wanted it destroyed.

Same with the Twisted Marionette. Okay, so perhaps she wanted a live weapons test on beings that would fight back, to reveal weakness in her weapon. But couldn’t she really have figured that the chains on the giant marionette were a weakness without all that hassle? Why is it necessary for her plans, to put these things in places where we can destroy them so easily?

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

Another obvious question that rises is, why not do it less conspicuous? Why not build the Tower of Nightmares somewhere remote, rather than right next to Divinity’s Reach and Lion’s Arch? Unless she wanted it destroyed.

Same with the Twisted Marionette. Okay, so perhaps she wanted a live weapons test on beings that would fight back, to reveal weakness in her weapon. But couldn’t she really have figured that the chains on the giant marionette were a weakness without all that hassle? Why is it necessary for her plans, to put these things in places where we can destroy them so easily?

The same way you could ask why the “energy reactors” have to let down so we can attack them.
That destroying them would send an energy beam to exactly one of the chains.

Let`s face it. The whole thing is a nice gameplay mechanic, but as a practical offensive, heck even as a defensive weapon kind of a long shot.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

Another obvious question that rises is, why not do it less conspicuous? Why not build the Tower of Nightmares somewhere remote, rather than right next to Divinity’s Reach and Lion’s Arch? Unless she wanted it destroyed.

Because she wanted to maximize its effect?

If you want to target a city you don’t nuke a forest 500 km away from said city.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

Same with the Twisted Marionette. Okay, so perhaps she wanted a live weapons test on beings that would fight back, to reveal weakness in her weapon. But couldn’t she really have figured that the chains on the giant marionette were a weakness without all that hassle? Why is it necessary for her plans, to put these things in places where we can destroy them so easily?

It’s strongly implied that she just really doesn’t care what happens when it comes to the Marionette.
She doesn’t seem particularly bothered if it’s defeated or not and she isn’t bothered if the people fighting it live or die. So yes it’s a weapons test, but I think we need to consider that it’s not your average weapons test and looking for rationality in her actions isn’t really going to get us anywhere since a) she isn’t necessarily an entirely rational being and b) she is a loon and we don’t know her true motives yet.