Guild Wars 2

It seems that there is a new forum thread every other day demonizing the introduction of Scarlet into the lore of Guild Wars. Complaints commonly claim that she is a Mary-Sue, a Foil, an irrational actor, and shoe-horned into the world with no connection the world from before.

The dev team has repeatedly told us that the first two listed complaints (Mary-sue/Foil) are only an issue for the present as with future updates and more character development the whole Scarlet storytelling process will have been enriched through the layering and foreshadowing. Subsequently, there’s not much to say about that save for wait and see, so if you will indulge me I’d like to delve into the latter two:

Scarlet as an irrational actor
First, a rational actor is one that has a goal or preconceived win condition and actively makes decisions to further their progress towards achieving that aim. Keep in mind, characters can be both insane and rational, as goals and win conditions are set by the character internally and not subject to external definition.

Archetypes of Character Rationality

In order to better define character rationality in this post (as there seems to be multiple definitions used on the forum) I’ve included a number of comparative examples for illustration. The Joker and Harley Quinn are included because of the frequent comparisons made between them and Scarlet, and Gollum/Smeagol for the inclusion of the insane-rational character archetype.

The Joker is a hobbesian villain whose objective is to oppose the persistence of “the leviathan” in the form Batman, this over-arching goal does not change. Each encounter with this character shows them acting in a way which would aid their aim; i.e. attacking the established “moral code” of no killing as arbitrary through presentation of reasonable counter-factuals; and exposing flaws in established security in order to weaken trust in “the leviathan.” Harley Quinn also follows this example, the only change that her goal is instead to earn the affection of the Joker. While these characters appear insane and irrational they are not. Their worldviews are not inconsistent with the reality experienced by those around them, and each plan progresses them towards their goals.

Gollum/Smeagol is an insane-rational character. His perception of reality has become warped to the point that he believes possession of the ring is central to his fulfillment, despite being a tool for his demise. Despite this, given that character’s goals and views are internally defined and so long as the character’s actions are not contradictory to this goal, his insanity is not a barrier to his rationality

Scarlet as a Rational Character
Scarlet is in danger of becoming an irrational character, though not doomed. Currently, her short-term objectives have focused on the disruption of the established order through any means available. This may serve a number of long-term goals, the institution of a new regime of her design being prime among them. Meaning that Scarlet’s actions are not inconsistent with a rational character. However, this has not been disclosed as her intention as of yet. Categorical or indiscriminate violence has limited goals it can potentially serve, subsequently, if these actions continue for much longer, the writers will have written themselves into a corner wherein they may need to default to insane-rational in order to avoid a Scarlet regime if that is not their intention.

Longevity of Scarlet within the World

Another common issue raised with the introduction of Scarlet is that seems to have materialized out of no-where. This issue does not need an examination of ideas to dispel, but a look at in-game evidence to the contrary. I apologize if gameplay bias has seeped into this post, the majority of characters I play are norn, so the evidence may not be as prevalent in other regions as it is in the Shiverpeaks.

Scarlet has been an opponent in the Shiverpeaks since release. For those familiar, we have battled her steam creatures in the eastern part of Lornar’s Pass since release. Moreover for the patrons of Hoelbrak we’ve played witness to the seemingly inane ramblings of a woman driven half-mad by Scarlet’s attacks since the beginning:
“Take heed, I haven’t taken leave of my senses. I’ve seen creatures of metal and steam.”
At this time I’d like to open this up to criticism. This appears to me to be a clear element of foreshadowing, however, if this is not associated with Scarlet, I would be happy to see evidence to the contrary.

TL;DR Scarlet is not an irrational character, nor is she ungrounded to the lore of the game before her formal introduction.

IIRC, which I may not, the steam creatures in lornar’s are there as a result of the asura personal story, “the infinity ball”. That is why its been there since launch.

I’ve never played Asura, that is interesting. Though, the same steam creatures are occasionally included in Scarlet’s invasions, it that to be considered independent asuran influence supposedly from Scarlet’s past?

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Steam_creature

I’m sure they could retcon it to have always been Scarlett, but w/e. I’m not a writer or a good theorist, they’ll be here later. In the meantime, the above link will show what I was talking about in more detail.

Hmm, thanks for the link. The wiki indicates though that infinity ball storyline is just a possibility and not the confirmed source. I may have prematurely jumped to the conclusion that it was Scarlet, however, the information presented doesn’t yet require a retcon to implicate Scarlet.

Yeah, I say retcon, because I do not for one second, believe Scarlett was made pre-launch. It’d be cool if they brought some more info out through the thaumanova fractal.

The wiki’s written in such a way to ensure there’s no confusion, since its never actually stated that the Lornar’s Pass steam creatures are of shared origins as the asura Infinity Ball storyline’s steam creatures.

The situation is “the only known source of the steam creatures is explained in the Infinity Ball storyline – that being from the future version of the asura PC who had gone evil.”

ArenaNet doesn’t necessarily plan everything they do from the beginning. Instead they leave lots of loose ends and odd nods for them to pick up later on in order to tie a new element into the older lore of the game. This can be seen through Palawa Joko, The Great Destroyer/Rubicon, and many other references. So expecting them to have had Scarlet as a key component from the beginning just isn’t the way ArenaNet has ever worked.

Scarlet doesn’t need detailed character analysis as she seems too shallow. There just seems to be a disconnect between the Scarlet we see and the results of Scarlet’s actions. For example, we see Scarlet as a spiteful, childish, sociopath yet she is meant to have forged many alliances, raised armies, and has been described as ‘silver tongued’.

Donnach Donnchadha.7864:

Scarlet has been an opponent in the Shiverpeaks since release. For those familiar, we have battled her steam creatures in the eastern part of Lornar’s Pass since release. Moreover for the patrons of Hoelbrak we’ve played witness to the seemingly inane ramblings of a woman driven half-mad by Scarlet’s attacks since the beginning:
“Take heed, I haven’t taken leave of my senses. I’ve seen creatures of metal and steam.”
At this time I’d like to open this up to criticism. This appears to me to be a clear element of foreshadowing, however, if this is not associated with Scarlet, I would be happy to see evidence to the contrary.

TL;DR Scarlet is not an irrational character, nor is she ungrounded to the lore of the game before her formal introduction.

As I can remember, steam creatures – it’s just spawns of some alternate universe where everything is the same… well.. steamish. Their appearance more connected with the incident in a Taumanova reactor, rather than Scarlet. She is some kind of portal-mistress. Most likely she has tamed some of them penetrating into their home reality, rather than created.