Guild Wars 2

We’ve had a few big reveals on these topics this patch- that the Forgotten did indeed come from the Mists, that the gods not only knew of the Elder Dragons but that writings they left behind are the greatest source on the topic that the Priory has access to, that one of Glint’s eggs survived the destruction of her lair… but, to my mind the most odd tidbit is buried in what Ogden, who, as the last member of the Brotherhood of the Dragon is the closest we have to an expert on Glint, says at the end. He claims that her mental communication allowed her to learn language, which in turn led her to view the races as allies, and thereafter hid them until the Elder Dragons entered their hibernation. A slightly more detailed account of what is by now a familiar story… but he claims that that crucial second step, the language that allowed her to understand the races, she learned not from the Forgotten, or even from the dwarves, but from humans. Humans which, by the conventional timeline as we’ve previously known it, were believed not to have arrived on Tyria until long after the dragons last fell into slumber.

What are we to make of that?

Probably a stuff up.

I kind of took it to be a mess up for what should have been “the races”. Because it really messes up the entire timeline.

I don’t know if it was just me not paying a whole lot of attention, but I didn’t think he said it was learning human language that was crucial for her. I thought that he just mentioned that it was her capacity to learn languages that made her decide to aide the races of Tyria; and then after that he said some sentence about helping humans?

There are three explicit mentions of humans in that dialogue- that she learned language from them, that she learned that “humans and other races” were not her enemies, and that she became a protector of the Tyrian races, which some exceptional humans recognized as important. That last one could plausibly only be referring to modern day Zephyrites, but the way he tells the story puts two mentions to humans, in specific, before the end of the last rise.

It is said that Glint learned human language thanks to her power of telepathy (we have that line from Marjory), i.e her capability of mental communication (according to Ogden, a more reliable people). She learned it herself.

I don’t think Ogden said that the Humans taught her to be kind with all the races. At least, the french translation I have do not seem to show that.

For reference’s sake:

Ogden Stonehealer: Glint has the power to communicate with her mind. She learned language from humans this way.
Ogden Stonehealer: According to her, other dragons speak and think in something I hesitate to call a language. But not Glint.
Ogden Stonehealer: She learned that humans and other races were not her enemies, but allies to be nurtured.
Ogden Stonehealer: Thus, she became a protector of the Tyrian races. We recognized the importance of this, as did some exceptional humans.

I can see it being interpreted as “humans taught her this first” but it can also be interpreted – especially the third line above – that humans became important to her, her learning things from them, in a latter time.

Humanity being especially important to her matches Logan’s description of Glint in EoD – I don’t have the novel with me but iirc, he called her the guardian of humanity. But I don’t think they were the driving point for her hiding the races.

If we add humans to the list of surviving races, then it makes Ogden’s line in the very same dialogue set (The last time the Elder Dragons awoke, they wiped out almost every intelligent race on the planet.) sound ever more harder to believe. We know of five survivors (Seers, Forgotten, mursaat, jotun, dwarves), and we already have three heavily implied races (djinn, karka, tengu), and with this, if we count humans and the charr myth book, three hinted races (charr, human, kodan).

Angel McCoy.1832:

Konig Des Todes.2086:

(snip)…it can also be interpreted – especially the third line above – that humans became important to her, her learning things from them, in a latter time.

This was indeed the intended interpretation. Thanks, Konig.

Ok then for clarity. Forgotten freed Glint from Kalky’s control (not sure if this is before the Elder Dragons entered hibernation or after) but since http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Altar_of_Glaust seems to indicate it predates the human gods (and thus possibly the arrival of humans) we can assume that she was freed some time around the last rise. From http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Forgotten it appears that the survival plan for the old races were 2 fold, first hide their magic in the blood stones (possibly speeding up when the EDs entered hibernation) and then getting Glint (now free) to help hide them from the EDs.
At this point she wasn’t a very nice dragon, but based on the fact that both the Forgotten and the Brotherhood of the Dragon they might have traded servitude for safety.
Only later after the humans arrived, she started to learn about language, humans, and love and became a nice dragon.
Am I missing anything? Get anything wrong?

Her freedom would have to be before the Elder Dragons’ hibernation, given that she hid them.

I’d imagine that the line of learning language from humans is not a case of ‘only from them’. But do keep in mind that it is the human language which is used primarily in gw1 and gw2. And what she used in gw1.

She likely learned Forgotten and dwarven speech before learning human speech.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Her freedom would have to be before the Elder Dragons’ hibernation, given that she hid them.

Yup’.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Forgotten_Not_Forgotten

During the last dragon cycle, it was the Forgotten who freed Glint from Kralkatorrik’s corruption and control. In gratitude, she hid them from the Elder Dragons until they returned to sleep.