Guild Wars 2

Just a note to anet. The Tarnished Exalted under Tarir and the traitor need some lore/relevance. Do the Exalted really sweep their invalids under the city like it seems?
There’s no precedence for these beings of magic to be morally flawed beyond their previous human natures, which I believe were tested in their transformations, weren’t they? What did the traitor do, and how was he punished before players invaded the city and beat him every 2 hours?

I doubt Anet will go back and fill in any of the blanks for HoT at this stage, although it is not the only hole waiting to be filled.

If it is of interest, I have a linked a previous thread on the subject which has a bit of community discussion and speculation in it.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/lore/Tarnished-Traitor

Most hero points lore that are fights, are in the standard “someone who was quiet here and you came to trouble” without major major connections.

the tarnished-traitor sees more of the same.

from wiki:

The Tarnished Traitor is an Exalted who is paying for his crimes by allowing others to spar with him found below Tarir, the Forgotten City.

Ugrakarma, OP is asking about what those crimes are, given that the Exalted had gone through multiple tests and trials before becoming Exalted.

Something Matt H doesn’t mention about the traitor is the lack of a mask, while we’re told if an Exalted’s mask is pulled off it results in “true death”. So how is the traitor still even alive?

And Matt H is also asking about the naming difference for those Exalted in the basement – why are they called “Tarnished”?

That’s a very big difference compared to most hero challenges, which the Tarnished Traitor is not among (that’s the Champion Tarnished Sage that’s the HP, and even that seems different from the typical lore of the hero challenges).

Given the events of GW1 Ascension, the Forgotten tested them for morals, duty and personal resolve. They could easily had been drawn from the huge pool of heroes and adventurers that existed in that era, but they are still of a mortal mind set. They have fears, regrets, and doubts, and the tests are there to see if at are at least capable of overcoming them.

But the challenges don’t end with the Forgotten’s tests. Many Exalted did not survive through the period of dormancy, and many more fell during the initial Mordrem incursion of Tarir. Masks of the Fallen is a testament to their diminished forces, as are the broken armors scattered through Auric Basin. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of the Exalted began to question their capacity to succeed in their mission, given how few remain, but push forward anyway knowing failure can’t be afforded.

With that said, there are other Tarnished exalted around Tarir. There appears to be no physical or functional difference between Tarnished and other Exalted, so I can only guess it was a lore element that had significance at one point, but was later dropped mid development. As for the Tarnished Traitor’s mask….. that is an anomaly, as all other lore would suggest an Exalted is dead if their mask is removed.