Guild Wars 2

I have no idea if this has been pointed out before, but… Could this creature be a Sylvari ?

It’s obviously made of bark, and has a very humanoid shape. It’s also carrying what seems to be a Mordrem weapon (same blue glow), and has got some kind of pet. Both have orange/red-ish eyes… Like the Pact Sylvari that went mad in the first HoT trailer.
And… you can see what I think are the crashed, burning Pact airships in the background.

So could this be one of the Sylvari that turned against the Pact we saw in the first trailer for HoT (and probably what was a fern hound along with him, though I must admit that the fact it’s spitting fire makes me doubt, it could be some random new quadruped Mordrem) ? Maybe that’s what they’re supposed to look like when Mordremoth actively controls them ?

EDIT :

Other informations about those creatures in the HoT Beta :

I think it’s more likely that it’s something else that has been corrupted by Mordremoth. I think the Sylvari look how they were always meant to look. It could be a corrupted Norn or something else?

Could be !
The teeth are very human-like, so I think it’s either a Sylvari, a human or a Norn.
I think it’s most likely a Sylvari, though, because the Mordrems that seem based on living creatures look more like are corpses infested by plants (mordrem wolves and mordrem trolls). The creature shown in the trailer doesn’t look like something infested or parasited, but something actually made of bark.

PetboyJoshua.3108:

Could be !
The teeth are very human-like, so I think it’s either a Sylvari, a human or a Norn.
I think it’s most likely a Sylvari, though, because the Mordrems that seem based on living creatures look more like are corpses infested by plants (mordrem wolves and mordrem trolls). The creature shown in the trailer doesn’t look like something infested or parasited, but something actually made of bark.

husks are humanoids made of bark. this could just be a dragon champion, not necessarily a living being that got turned into… that.

though it would be pretty cool if that turned out to be what became of trahearne and caladbolg :P

BrunoBRS.5178:

though it would be pretty cool if that turned out to be what became of trahearne and caladbolg :P

“This won’t end well… for you!”

Honestly, I could see this being a thing for select Sylvari to fill the Tank (boss) roll on the front lines. Roiding said sylvari out with Mordremoth sap and turning them into BarkBeefCakes of pure rage. The rotting wood-look to it does have a nice imagery to it, I think.

As for the creature on all fours. Maybe a fern hound under the same affects?

That would be fantastic if that creature was a corrupted Sylvari.

Or rather… a Sylvari’s true form?

Well there’s a lot of fire so I was thinking it could have been a Destroyer. You know hinting at some ED vs ED action. But looking at the still it looks kinda more like bark and not stone.

When i saw this creature in the trailer i first had the impression of it being very tall so i immediately thought – it’s a giant, corrupted by Mordremoth.

CureForLiving > There’s fire because that’s where the Pact’s airship crashed, you can see them burn.

Ronin > Yep, I think it could be that. The fact that it’s breathing fire still make me doubt about the Fern hound, though, we’ll see.

Shinreigari > I still think it could be a Sylvari, as there’s no trace of it being a parasited body or anything like the other living creatures corrupted by Mordremoth. Also, as Mordremoth is a plant dragon, and Sylvari are plant creatures… I guess they’d kinda be like modelling clay to him. :p

Looking at today’s PoI, I guess I was right. ;p

doesn’t really confirm anything. hell, there’s an archer equivalent of it called mordrem guard sniper.

now if it was called “mordrem sylvari”…

Well, to be honest, I have a hard time imagining the devs making enemies looking pretty much like Sylvari on steroids, and using the term “Mordrem Court” on one type of those enemies, just to end up saying “nah, it isn’t a Sylvari at all, it’s just a new type of husk”. :p
I may be jumping to conclusions a bit too quickly, but this, plus the other points raised before, really make me think I’m right. Maybe not about the whole “they’re the Sylvari that turned against the Pact”, but at least about the fact that they could be Sylvari.

how do they look like sylvari? two arms, two legs and a head?

-Appart from the ones that are made of plants (Mordrem thrashers, for example), all Mordrems made of living creatures are actually corpses of those creatures, reanimated by plants (you can see their skulls, and other bones in certain cases). But this thing looks nothing like a corpse, but rather like a creature made completely of bark… pretty much like Sylvari or oakhearts.

-It’s got a very humanoid shape.

-It’s got humanoid animations, and is able to use weapons like bows and hammers (so it’s pretty much intelligent enough to use a regular bow correctly).

-While most of the monsters have a very animal-like teeth (sharp teeth, long fangs, etc), those ones have broad, flat teeth, quite reminiscent of human teeth actually… Or Sylvari teeth.

-Strangely, we don’t see Sylvari enemies attacking the crash zone. If the good ones have survived, some evil ones should have survived too. They could be those creatures.

-Mordrem “Court” ? Please. :p

-We already know Sylvari can change their appearance to an extent (hi Canach), and grow armor from their own bodies. Why couldn’t they transform into something like that if the Dragon gives them more power ? Makes me think a bit about the icebroods, actually.

-You say they should be called Mordrem Sylvari, but isn’t Sylvari the name that the Pale Tree gave to her children ? If they’re rooting for the dragon, I don’t see them getting called Sylvari anymore.

-Wasn’t it confirmed (I’m not sure about this one) that the Pale Tree consciously shaped Sylvari to look very human-ish ? Their true form could be something more freaky like this.

Now, I don’t deny that they could be other creatures, linked to a so called Mordrem Court where there would be normal Sylvari (like Nightmare husks, but more sylvari-ish). But I still think it’s quite possible that they are Sylvari.
I don’t see Arenanet missing an opportunity to actually make freakier, threatening-looking Sylvari, now that we’re dealing with a plant dragon that’s pretty much their creator, and now that some of their race are turning against the races of Tyria.

But, eh, we’ll see. :p

What I noticed is, that their armguard is the same as the golden (Mursaat) beings.
They got the same blade design (which is nothing special, but not so common in other NPC groups so far, as well as armor design).

So my guess is more that these are either a splinter faction, or corrupted beeings. Maybe an unknown third force, beside Mordremoth.

Their dark “skin” looks like they were charred, not having a bark similiar to the Mordrem Sniper (“I am Groot”) from the latest POI.

If any these are fire based beings and their design reflects that.
I do not believe they are part of Primordus, simply because I won`t say just because they wield fire, that they are automaticly part of him.

That being said we are already introduced to the idea of flames being Mordremoths weakness (even if the flame had to be devine).
If they are inded the Warriors of the golden beings, than them wielding flames and looking the way makes sense. It is warrior attire, their proof of wielding the flames to fight off the jungle dragons.

At least, that is my idea so far. I can`t see them as planty.

Edit: It doesn`t seem to be bark, but if the screenshot of the POI up there is true, then I might sadly be wrong

I don’t think that thing is a sylvari. There are better examples of corrupted sylvari in the Ominous Portent (at the end of the Mysterious cave LS mission). I get shivers every time the glimpse of Faolain skewering a human comes around. She has red eyes and looks a bit more thorny than usual.

Faolain looks no different than her TA appearance, which is wearing TA light armor. Which does have a thorny look.

In fact, none of the Nightmare Courtiers looked corrupted. Nor would they need to be corrupted to be fighting in a battle with the races. I think it’d be a nice twist – and a play on the pre-release lore that the Nightmare Court also seeks to kill all Elder Dragons just like the Dreamers (but disagree on the how) – if the Nightmare Court become begrudged allies (rather than the Mursaat). I was kind of hoping for such with the release, tbh.

The Nightmare Court preaches freedom. Changing the shackles of the Ventari Tablet for that of the Dragon would not really fit with their preaching.

Yep, this is also what I’m hoping for.
Maybe the Nightmare Court we know could become two distinct factions : one that’s rooting for the Dragon (and the Dreamers that joined Mordremoth’s side too), and the other one that, yeah, isn’t going to obey to Mordremoth because it would totally be against their desire of freedom.
If Arenanet is just going to make them all go for Mordremoth, I’ll be quite disappointed, I just don’t see how being slaves to a Dragon would be okay with the NC’s philosophy.

The day I fight side-by-side with the Nightmare Court is the same day I do the same with the Inquest.

The only thing we had, were red eyes, but nothing more.
Faolain didn`t even get them, so what these beings are is still open

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Faolain looks no different than her TA appearance, which is wearing TA light armor. Which does have a thorny look.

In fact, none of the Nightmare Courtiers looked corrupted. Nor would they need to be corrupted to be fighting in a battle with the races. I think it’d be a nice twist – and a play on the pre-release lore that the Nightmare Court also seeks to kill all Elder Dragons just like the Dreamers (but disagree on the how) – if the Nightmare Court become begrudged allies (rather than the Mursaat). I was kind of hoping for such with the release, tbh.

The Nightmare Court preaches freedom. Changing the shackles of the Ventari Tablet for that of the Dragon would not really fit with their preaching.

hes right, Faolain does look differant.
you are right in she is wearing the TA light armor. but she DOES have a thorny backpeice on.
the corrupted char, and other red eye humans or sylvari have even more vines and thorny appearances.

I’ve always wondered what happened to Thorn Stalkers, so maybe what we’ve seen is an evolved form of a Thorn Stalker… They were found in the Maguuma Jungle in GW1, so why not?
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Thorn_Stalker

PetboyJoshua.3108:

Yep, this is also what I’m hoping for.
Maybe the Nightmare Court we know could become two distinct factions : one that’s rooting for the Dragon (and the Dreamers that joined Mordremoth’s side too), and the other one that, yeah, isn’t going to obey to Mordremoth because it would totally be against their desire of freedom.
If Arenanet is just going to make them all go for Mordremoth, I’ll be quite disappointed, I just don’t see how being slaves to a Dragon would be okay with the NC’s philosophy.

You mean the Soundless joined, right?

I could see the Nightmare Court wanting to race to Mordremoth and try to use it like those courtiers wanted to use the Nightmare Tree in TA. Especially if Faolain is convinced she could use the power of the dragon herself under the right circumstances without becoming its total slave (i.e. “Corrupted” Kudu)

On sylvari looking humanoid:

However, because the race tightly relates to the essence of human due to the Pale Tree’s influences from Ronan, the overall form has a human silhouette. But if you look more closely, you’ll see the forms are really quite alien. They are a collection of abstract notions the Pale Tree had about what made up the human, as she really only saw the surface. They are a tree’s interpretation of humans.

http://www.talktyria.net/2011/08/11/sylvari-lore-interview-with-ree-soesbee-kristen-perry/

Konig Des Todes.2086:

On sylvari looking humanoid:

However, because the race tightly relates to the essence of human due to the Pale Tree’s influences from Ronan, the overall form has a human silhouette. But if you look more closely, you’ll see the forms are really quite alien. They are a collection of abstract notions the Pale Tree had about what made up the human, as she really only saw the surface. They are a tree’s interpretation of humans.

http://www.talktyria.net/2011/08/11/sylvari-lore-interview-with-ree-soesbee-kristen-perry/

doesn’t explain how a sylvari from a whole other tree looks like something i can do on character creation (not that anyone ever picks that face option, it’s ugly as sin)

I hope they didn`t write themselves into a corner here.

We can asume that the other tree grew close to another humanoid settlement and was cared for by them, however that is quite the speculation.

other pale trees, should grow other beings, which are close to their playce as well.
If it is close to wolves, we get wolvelike “sylvari”. If it is close to giant dinosaurs, we get giant dinosaur “silvari”.

Though if the creatures surounding the growing pale trees have to care for it, than it is a different matter alltogether.
This means that the caretakers have to be sentient or empathic enough to help the tree grow. They have to care about it.

The pale tree we know about has been cared about a lot by Ronan, thanks to it`s symbolic nature for him.
Something like that can happen with other seeds in other villages as well. We haven`t seen that happen, though.

Our Pale Tree could be one, that is outside the normal seed distribution region, which would explain why we haven`t seen the growth of other similiar plants.
Any plants that are similiar to Sylvari in our region are from the pale tree or it`s magic/control.

While we could argue that it looks similiar to Druid magic, we can`t make that connection with GW2, as there are no druids around anymore, and the ghostly images do not give us much information on that topic.

How come Sylvari looked totally human and totally not centaur? One would have thought given Ventari ever present revalence and impact on the Sylvari they would looked like centaur. If not totally centaur then at least some centaur morphology or physiology. But, no, Sylvari looked so human that they just do not compare to centaur.

Is this a case of nature and nurture? Venari might have been a towering giant on Sylvari culture and society, it is the human that composed Sylvari nature. Could the explanation be Sylvari have absorbed human DNA through the Pale Tree in their formative initial phase? Whereas Ventari was only a foster parent on the Pale Tree.

It`s just Ventaris teachings. Humans (Ronan) did care for the tree.
Even if Ventari was present and the source of the teachings, the main source of care has been the humans around him.

Let’s not forget the key to any not in-game piece of lore: anything not in an official release (the games, and some of the books), it’s subject to revision. So while it’s believed that sylvari are modeled after Ronan and his family, maybe the Pale Tree took the perception of human anatomy from the same source everything in the initial Dream did for the Firstborn. Maybe the Trees (assuming there is indeed more than one and Malyck is not just a stray pod from something) are linked somehow on even a subconscious level (do trees even have a consciousness?). Maybe we’ll get some answers from deep in Maguuma.

I want tengu and frog sylvari
Tengu and frogs in Maguuma live in trees, so they care about them.

Rognik.2579:

Let’s not forget the key to any not in-game piece of lore: anything not in an official release (the games, and some of the books), it’s subject to revision. So while it’s believed that sylvari are modeled after Ronan and his family, maybe the Pale Tree took the perception of human anatomy from the same source everything in the initial Dream did for the Firstborn. Maybe the Trees (assuming there is indeed more than one and Malyck is not just a stray pod from something) are linked somehow on even a subconscious level (do trees even have a consciousness?). Maybe we’ll get some answers from deep in Maguuma.

A shared ancestral memory seemed to be an apt descriptor for the dream of dreams that all sylvari shared. My PC sylvari had an interview with the Pale Tree where she said the dream of dreams originated from beyond the Mist. Given that the first set of original dreams were that of Ronan and his family that all sylvari have, and that the dream of dreams is from beyond the mist where the souls of Ronan and his family now have gone to then it would stand to reason to say sylvari shared an ancestral memory with humans. But of cause sylvari ancestral memory is more real and magical than what we human could conjured up.

Shared ancestral memory in this case, dream of dreams, is a deep rooted identity as an individual or as a race. As such, then one would drawn distinction and delimit of the sylvari race from that of their supposed hypothetical brethren the mordrem. Is this self identity as in self determination and as in self willed that guarded the sylvari from Mordremorth’s annexation?

Sylvaries like all dragon minions have no true form. The replicate forms around them. The playable sylvaries copied the form of Humans which is a part of the lore I think. I hope the 2nd tree comes back into the story.

Djahlat.9610:

I’ve always wondered what happened to Thorn Stalkers, so maybe what we’ve seen is an evolved form of a Thorn Stalker… They were found in the Maguuma Jungle in GW1, so why not?
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Thorn_Stalker

I’d say that these Mordrem look closer to Kurzick Juggernauts than to Thorn Stalkers.

In any way, creating beings that look humanoid, while having the ability to take any form is just baffling me.

Mordremoth is either reliant on creatures blueprints or just lazy, since he could basicaly create highly spezialized beings, to do his tasks.

Regarding Malyck’s appearance: What does a mursaat look like beneath the mask?

Regarding the heavy use of humanoid mordrem: It’s a fairly workable form, and we see many such creatures so it would not be surprising if Mordremoth just went “hey, a lot of creatures look like this and this works so I’ll make use of it.”

However, making his minions as “mockeries” of pre-existing creatures is not new. See: destroyers. But I’d imagine that if this was the case then the mordrem would more commonly be called after said creatures that is being mimicked – whereas the only such mordrem, currently known, are infesting corpses of said creatures.

Which means we might still be seeing true Mordrem ?

Don`t mind Mordi harvesting the death, though we had that already in another way.
Nothing new, though.
Maybe he even goes the fungus route ala Last of Us and we get “Zombies” as well.

In the end we fight minions in any shape or form and with not much personality.
Though the last part is hopefully that will change.

I can only fight so many “brainless” minions.

Zaithans generals had potential. if we would have seen and interacted more with them, they could have been really cool.

So far Mordremoth isn`t really starting out well (for me).
However there are promising parts in his movements:
Scarlet is still debatable in how far she was really influenced by him (yeah, I know, 95% it was him. The Pale Tree said it, but I don`t trust him. Still waiting on the offficial dev response to it), but it seems Mordremoth taking control of intelligent people we are able to interact with, could fo the trick.

Here I am really hopefull we get some more meat to the enemies, because let`s face it. Giving us any real verbal confrontation to Mordremoth would make them understandable, human, while they are more a force of nature we want to stop.

I rather play with his proxy and wittle down his influence like with Zaithan, then getting into a verbal of personal struggle with god like beings, which might just not be as interesting.

MatthewMedina.5419:

Just want to clear one thing up since this is out of the bag already. There are no “Mordrem Court” in Heart of Thorns. References to that nomenclature are a bug. These enemies are all called “Mordrem Guard”. Now, continue your speculating. :-P

matthew medina, dropping da bomb.

told you guys they were called mordrem guard :P

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Regarding Malyck’s appearance: What does a mursaat look like beneath the mask?

Regarding the heavy use of humanoid mordrem: It’s a fairly workable form, and we see many such creatures so it would not be surprising if Mordremoth just went “hey, a lot of creatures look like this and this works so I’ll make use of it.”

However, making his minions as “mockeries” of pre-existing creatures is not new. See: destroyers. But I’d imagine that if this was the case then the mordrem would more commonly be called after said creatures that is being mimicked – whereas the only such mordrem, currently known, are infesting corpses of said creatures.

part of me always liked the idea that the “mask” isn’t actually a mask, but part of their phisiology. i mean, why not? we don’t really have a lot of lore (that i know of) on mursaat life, and it would add to the now-growing list of features that make them more than “hairy humans with wings and big feet”.

it sure wouldn’t be the first fantasy race to have a helmet-face. incidentally, that race also phased out of the world after a great war :P

Shiren.9532:

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Regarding Malyck’s appearance: What does a mursaat look like beneath the mask?

Mursaat have wings don’t they? Functional, real wings?

They really don’t. We call them ‘wings’ because of where they’re placed on the body and because they look very vaguely feathery, but ‘tendrils’ would be more accurate. They don’t flap, and the way mursaat hover wouldn’t be achievable with wing-based propulsion anyway (not without the wings moving too fast to be seen). If a sylvari were to have an imitation of them, I think the sort of mushrooms that grow out of Malyck’s face is what I’d expect to see- and for all we know, he may have those coming out of his back.

Shiren.9532:

Mursaat have wings don’t they? Functional, real wings?

Malyck is nearly identical to our sylvari (although I do believe he has a unique face that players are unable to use) with no musaat specific physiology. His physiology remains identical to humans.

The mursaat idea is interesting, because it’s assumed Malycks tree is in deep Maguuma, also where the mursaat are believed to have been. Ronan’s family were killed by mursaat iirc, so it would be an ironic twist if sylvari are made in the image of those who took Ronan’s family from him.

Mursaat don’t have wings – not in the traditional sense. They have a series of black “fern” like appendages coming out of their back. If the beings we’ve seen in the HoT trailer are mursaat, then they’ve changed in design completely and now look as if made out of light but only drape down (think of it like Diablo’s angels’ wings, but more cape-like than wing-like).

Players are able to use Malyck’s face, but only players, and players are able to use any face designed for playable races.

Mursaat physiology was the same as humans as far as we knew except for toes and those black appendages if they were part of the body (could have been simple armor design), though we don’t know what their faces look like in the least. We never see Malyck’s toes and since sylvari are an abstract view of humans, wouldn’t an abstract view of something almost-human look very similar?

Was just a postulation.

BrunoBRS.5178:

part of me always liked the idea that the “mask” isn’t actually a mask, but part of their phisiology. i mean, why not? we don’t really have a lot of lore (that i know of) on mursaat life, and it would add to the now-growing list of features that make them more than “hairy humans with wings and big feet”.

it sure wouldn’t be the first fantasy race to have a helmet-face. incidentally, that race also phased out of the world after a great war :P

So you think that the mursaat have big gold metal faces while the rest of their body was fleshy?

Konig Des Todes.2086:

BrunoBRS.5178:

part of me always liked the idea that the “mask” isn’t actually a mask, but part of their phisiology. i mean, why not? we don’t really have a lot of lore (that i know of) on mursaat life, and it would add to the now-growing list of features that make them more than “hairy humans with wings and big feet”.

it sure wouldn’t be the first fantasy race to have a helmet-face. incidentally, that race also phased out of the world after a great war :P

So you think that the mursaat have big gold metal faces while the rest of their body was fleshy?

sure! why not? plenty of creatures have both fleshy and hard surfaces on their skin in real life, it’s not impossible for a magical race to have metallic heads. do we even know how they reproduce? far as we know, they just sprout into existence.

Just for reference.

^ what’s with the mursaat in kaineng, at the risk of derailing the thread even further?

Tonic.

/15charr

PetboyJoshua.3108:

-Wasn’t it confirmed (I’m not sure about this one) that the Pale Tree consciously shaped Sylvari to look very human-ish ? Their true form could be something more freaky like this.

You guys keep talking about “true form”. There is no such thing. Even these letters t-r-u-e[space]f-o-r-m, they only mean what they mean because we all agree they mean what they mean. We only agree that the letter “t” is the letter “t” and the combination of the letters t, r, u, and e forms a word with a set of very specific meanings. To an alien with no knowledge of our culture (read: Mother Tree), they mean absolutely nothing.

Avariz.8241:

My PC sylvari had an interview with the Pale Tree where she said the dream of dreams originated from beyond the Mist.

From this I infer that only perhaps somewhere in the Mists, is there some sort of vague representation of any creature’s “true form”, and this is why Mother Tree herself does not know, understand, or reveal her knowledge or understanding of all things, especially in relation to the Dragons (some things she can’t know or understand either). This may also be why Scarlet had the Aetherblades explore the Mists, and this opens up the question of what exactly did or will Mai Trin and/or Rytlock find in the Mists about the Elder Dragons?

Jaken.6801:

Our Pale Tree could be one, that is outside the normal seed distribution region, which would explain why we haven`t seen the growth of other similiar plants.

This is very true. We have no idea where Ronan found the seed. For all we know the other seeds could have been right above Mordremoth’s head – from its main “flower”. They could have been harvested and then placed in the cave for safekeeping by dragon minions, as Ronan did flee from creatures after grabbing the seed. We also don’t know how much the dream can influence all Sylvari, so Malyck could have broken away from a malevolent Mother Tree through magical means, like with an Asuran experiment either on him – or even his originating tree – or after a traumatic battle which either involved magic that snapped his link from his Tree of origin, or that tree was disabled or destroyed. This could explain how he does not feel nor remember his origin, but also that where he comes from could perhaps be not such a good place.

Shiren.9532:

The most influential figure in the Pale Tree’s experience is Ventari, not Ronan (or another human). Ventari’s philosophy is the one that the sylvari live by, it’s his teachings they treasure – not Ronan. If the Pale Tree was making sylvari in the image of anyone, why would she choose humans instead of centaurs?

Wasn’t Ventari dead by the time Sylvari Firstbornes arrived? And since they were well out of centaur territory, there were no physical centaurs to model from.

Shiren.9532:

If Malyck’s origin tree is younger than the Pale Tree, it’s possible that he may be one of the first generations from his tree. Assuming his tree doesn’t have access to the pool of knowledge the Pale Tree holds (but possibly has access to big picture things like physical form and knowledge of language) his Dream would be a lot more primal than even the firstborn sylvari.

This is very true. How recently the Sylvari first appeared in Tyria should not be overlooked. It is a tiny fraction of time compared to the other races. This emphasizes their ties to Mordremoth and perhaps the Mists, but more importantly to the fact mentioned above, that the emergence of other Trees would only have started a few decades ago, as opposed to centuries ago for other species’ lore. So very little is known about them both by the NPCs and by us, and as with most young’uns, they hardly know themselves.

Rognik.2579:

Maybe the Trees (assuming there is indeed more than one and Malyck is not just a stray pod from something) are linked somehow on even a subconscious level (do trees even have a consciousness?). Maybe we’ll get some answers from deep in Maguuma.

It’s kind of like how Humans (at least in the real world) are linked at the DNA level, the molecular level. I don’t think any of these Mother Trees would purposefully want to make creatures different from ones they’ve already been making, provided they had a say in what their offspring looked like in the first place. We must not forget biology: that we have a consciousness as a result of our bodies, not the other way around (that other way around is basically what the Elder Dragons do).

As for the OP’s image, it looks like somewhere an Inquest scientist developed and then forced an assistant to drink a Mordrem-infusion tonic so he could have his own personal Mordrem minion(s) (usually resulting in the scientist’s own demise). The upper curve of the creature’s head makes it hard for me to say it’s from any species other than Asura.

Shiren.9532:

My money’s on sylvari not based off of mursaat. It’s possible but it seems like the more complicated conclusion.

I meant Malyck’s tree making sylvari based off of mursaat. Not all sylvari – just Malyck (and any potential siblings, depending on their appearance).

Edit: Why is everyone so certain that Malyck’s tree is younger than the Pale Tree? We know nothing about it except that Malyck is the only sylvari from it that ventured far enough to be known and that it doesn’t seem influenced by the Dream. There can be many explanations for that.

I think we made a wrong assumption.

The Sylvari are “of mordremoth” but the Pale Tree is not.

not going to pretend to know how it works.

But the tree being a dragon champion does not seem to mesh with Scarlets drawing of Tyria, and her vision, or yours with the Pale tree being the center of Tyria, and the dragons rotating around her. All of them.
Nor does the Trees connections to the mists.

The actual dragon champion that attacks the tree. Was in the Dream, and the player character fights it.
Maybe the Tree simply captured the dragon champion, years ago, and had been birthing free Sylvari from it since. so the question is not, how did she get free?
She was always free. And is freeing YOU, the player. Giving you guidelines to follow, and treating you like children, who might turn evil.

SPOILERS from the HoT demo :

(Source : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tdnzUGSiSQ )

About Malyck’s tree and stuff…
Ronan found the Pale Tree’s seed in a cavern where there were other seeds, what if all those seeds went under some kind of purification ritual even before he found them ? He stole one, planted it far away… And the other ones were maybe planted by someone else in Maguuma to fulfill what they were made for. Maybe Malyck’s tree was one of those seeds.
And that would also imply that yes, there’s also seeds that weren’t cleansed, because I doubt that the ones responsible for the cleansing got all of the existing seeds.

Edit : sorry, my English is broken. :T