Guild Wars 2

This may also be silly, but hear me out. (Don’t worry, this is not a “sylvari are dragon minions” or “Pale Tree is dragon champion” theory. But it might be just as ridiculous and if so, please ignore it.)

The Eternal Alchemy showed the Pale Tree at the center of the six dragons. Now, no matter whether the center circle represented continental Tyria or not, we know the Tree is somehow involved.

The Pale Tree was one of many seeds in a cave Ronan found guarded by plant monsters. Alright. Some may think they were Mordrem left over from the last rise of Dragons but I don’t believe it. Anyway, Ronan grabs his seed, runs back to his family and finds them murdered. He partners up with Ventari and plants the seed on his family’s grave then is buried there himself.

It’s not the only Tree. Malyck grew from a Tree that has no connection to the Dream of Dreams. Perhaps that is what is important, however. The representation of the Pale Tree in the Alchemy could be another way to represent the Dream, the Tree being merely a conduit between the Dream and reality.

My point, though, and the reason why this thread is titled “Catalyst”, is it seems that the Tree must come into existence before the Dragons start waking up. We have a period of 1070-1078 where Ronan could steal and plant the Pale Tree’s seed. (1070 being when the White Mantle rose up, 1078 being present day in EoTN.) Perhaps the planting of the Pale Tree, and its relationship with the Dream, is part of a catalyst for the Elder Dragons to arise. Is it a connection between the Dream and Tyria, perhaps, that helps the Dragons awaken? We know that soon after the Tree was planted, the Great Destroyer awoke and began creating minions for Primordus who almost woke up at that time — but we interfered by killing that champion.

Is it coincidence that the Pale Tree was planted right before an Elder Dragon almost awoke?

What I am not saying: I am not saying that the Tree is in any way “dragon-like”. What I mean by that is that the Tree is not a Dragon minion, champion, or a Dragon itself. It is a wholly different entity. My argument is focused not on the physicality of the Tree itself, but its connection with the Dream, which seems to be wholly unique. If some other entity created a link with the Dream, perhaps the Dragons would start to awaken then, too. The Tree just happens to be what did it this time.

I think I might be stretching a bit, but tell me what you think, if you agree and why, or if you think this is crap and why. Thanks!

My theory is that the seed the Pale Tree grew from was supposed to be a dragon minion, most likely meant to grow other minions as fruits. But that never happened, as we know. The seed was one of many, which doesn’t sound like it was all that special. I think the place she was planted is what makes her special.

My guess is, she grew in the place that connects Tyria to the heart of the Eternal Alchemy. The heart of the world, if you will. That’s why we see her in the vision at the center of things. Instead of taking Mordremoth’s corruption as nourishment, she fed on energies tied to creation itself. It would explain why she managed to give birth to a new major, self-aware race, and ended up a good guy instead of a dragon minion. An extreme case of nurture versus nature. And Mordremoth, of course, can’t have that and will come after her.

As for the Dream, I think that’s something she created to shield her children from corruption, not something that has or had an existence before her.

I am leaning towards Manasa’s view too, in fact part of what I have been saying in regards to the order of the orbs glowing up, that this might be a cue for the champions to start doing their thing, for the Pale tree it might have been the first batch of ‘fruit’. While for Kralki it was the awakening of the Shatterer, who then flew where ever (out of sight) to do his thing. And so on, and w/e it is these champs need to do for their master is somehow completed by Tequatl first, as his orbs lights up last, but he is awakens b4 Kralkatorrik, even though Kralkatorrik orb lights up b4 his. And we see this delay with Primordus too, but then it’s our doing…

So perhaps if ‘we’ (someone) can place the first batch of the pale tree, somewhere after the awakening of Jormag, but b4 the awakening of Zhaitan. With kralki somewhere in there as well (because I am not entirely sure when he did awake from what we knew b4 this vision), then perhaps this gets more merit.

Also finding the other Tree might help, they didn’t have a dream, is it now a dragon minion infestation? I would obviously have fruited later, somewhere after it turned out that the ‘first batch’ of Fruit from the pale tree turned out to be ‘good’ instead of Mordremoth’s. And in this sense, it might have still been Scarlet who interacted as a ‘Champ’ by jolting up Mordremoth through her lions arch event. If that was what she intended to do, and it wasn’t some malfunction and feedback instead. Because he might not have been ready, or rather, his real Champ might not have…

(and if the order of business is making the boss his ‘morning’ coffee, then Mordi just woke up with a real bad temper, and also somewhat in a rush)

So the theory regarding the Pale Tree as a minion/champion of Mordy is, in my opinion, silly. There’s literally no proof, just wishful thinking that the Trees have some connection to Mordremoth. It’s been talked to death for the past two years, so I won’t get into the specifics. As such, I will ignore any aspects of anything that have to do with the Tree being related to Mordy apart from “plants”. The only thing I will grant is that sylvari are more likely to be able to be corrupted by Mordy because they are plants and Mordy corrupts plants; not because they are related to our Draconic friend. And before you start, I’ve heard every argument in the book about “Pale Tree = Related to Mordy”.

Perhaps I should have noted in my post that I am not interested in hearing about how the Pale Tree is related to Mordremoth, because the poor horse has been beaten so many times.

On topic:

The Pale Tree has said on numerous occasions that she did not create or maintain the Dream. She merely has a connection with it. As a result, her connection to the Dream seems to be happenstance of some sort, and the physiology of the Tree herself seems to be receptive to this kind of connection.