Guild Wars 2

I missed almost the entirety of Season 1. I was able to play some of Halloween and two days of Super Adventure Box #2, but never really gave GW2 a fair shot until the Festival of the Four Winds. Now that I’m an obsessed fan, I’d like to really know (and see) what happened in Season 1.

Are there any good sources (a video would be nice as reading the wiki was getting tiresome) that give a detailed explanation of what happened in Season 1?

Here you go
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World_season_1

That was what I’d been reading. But it’s a lot to read and doesn’t include any of the cutscenes, interesting dialogue, etc.

Haven’t checked the videos in this list myself but maybe this can help you out:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0YRQxMbwWRXbdtXxIjg9sgP7u_497Gu3

This video probably?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9LrN-LD-ZI

Shows an alliance known as the Molten Alliance that you have to deal with basically, afterward the attempt of assassination of the member of Captain Council by the Skypirates. At the end we know that Scarlet was behind those attacks as she appears in Divinity’s Reach.

and also
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH2JGRkopyA

The video shows the beginning of her attacking Divinity’s Reach, then the revelation of Nightmare Tower where the Hero has to dealwith the Toxic Alliance (an alliance made by scarlet which consist of the Krait and the Nightmare Court), then the giant Marionette fight, and above all how what she’s done is actually a distraction for her bigger plot to attack Lion’s Arch

There are so many details that I probably missed since I also couldn’t play GW2 at the middle of the season 1.

Also this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbFVUI_aqbU

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

Haven’t checked the videos in this list myself but maybe this can help you out:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0YRQxMbwWRXbdtXxIjg9sgP7u_497Gu3

That playlist looks promising. Thank you.

ErickDntn.1847:

-snip-

Those official videos were very good. Thank you! I can’t believe how much I missed. I really hope Season 1 becomes replayable, somehow.

Lets see how much I can cover here..

Season One opened with a refugee crisis. Norn and Charr from the northern reaches of their respective lands were being driven out by what was then an unknown force. Investigations by various agencies, including the Order of Whispers, revealed the existence of the Molten Alliance, a coalition of Flame Legion and Dredge that had started working together. They used a combination of Flame Legion magic and Dredge machinery to cause havoc in the north.

We were introduced to the guardian Braham, the son of Eir, who sought help from the leaders of Hoelbrak and the Black Citadel to assist his home of Cragstead. He was brushed off by both, with Rytlock going so far as to accuse him of lying, as Eir had never told him she had a child. We were also introduced to the ranger Rox, a gladium who was investigating the Molten Alliance, fighting them off at a devourer hatchery outside the ruins of Nolani, where she found a new pet, the cute devourer Frostbite. After the player helped both Braham and Rox in their respective missions, the Molten Alliance bases were discovered, allowing the player’s party to launch raids on them to destroy their weapon manufactories and free captured Norn and Charr. At the end of the Molten Facility dungeon, the players defeated the Molten Firestorm and Molten Berserker bosses, set up bombs to destroy the base and fled the exploding structures to safety. Captive Dredge and Flame Legion quarreled with each other, with one prisoner in the Black Citadel blaming ‘the city dweller’ for setting this up and then abandoning them.

The problem of the refugees remained, with many having gone all the way to Lion’s Arch due to a lack of room at Hoelbrak and the Black Citadel for them. At Lion’s Arch, the Consortium graciously offered to support the refugees at their new resort, Southsun Cove. This proved to be somewhat less than altruistic, with the refugees forced to perform what amounted to slave labour due to the contracts they had to sign, and of course they weren’t told about the vicious wildlife. Said vicious wildlife became even more vicious due to the machinations of Canach, who felt that he was helping the refugees by riling up the karka and other creatures to attack the Consortium. On behalf of Lionguard Inspector Ellen Kiel, the players investigated Southsun to trace the clues back to Canach, helped capture him to bring him to justice, and mediated often-violent disputes between the Consortium and the refugees, while fighting off attacks by the newly awakened Legendary Karka Queen. After Canach’s defeat, Ellen Kiel had seen enough of the Consortium, and after seizing the contracts binding the refugees to the island, she had them shipped back to Lion’s Arch for review, only for the ship carrying them to mysteriously explode and capsize. How unfortunate for the Consortium, the contracts were now lost and the refugees were free. This led to the Consortium being forced to down-size their operations, which among other things meant that their employment golem, Job-o-Tron, was wished well in his future endeavours.

(continued)

The Dragon Bash was held in Lion’s Arch soon after, to celebrate the defeat of Zhaitan. The player and the Lionguard were both notified that there was a threat to the effigy lighting ceremony, as told by a letter signed only with “E”. At the ceremony, things went horribly awry, with a new faction launching an attack, the Aetherblade sky pirates. Captain’s Council member Theo Ashford was killed in the attack. Logan Thackeray turned to the debuting Marjory Delaqua, head of Delaqua Investigations, to find out who was responsible. Working alongside her assistant, Lady Kasmeer Meade (who players had met briefly on the beach at Southsun), and with Ellen Kiel as well, Marjory and the players discovered the responsible party was Mai Trin, now revealed as the leader of the Aetherblades. In killing Theo Ashford, Mai Trin had hoped to be able to replace him upon the Captain’s Council and earn influence in Lion’s Arch, but instead the players and Ellen Kiel tracked her down through the Aetherblade Retreat, fighting through the Aetherblade and their Inquest supporters to defeat and capture Mai Trin. Mai briefly referred to a benefactor named ‘Scarlet’, but refused to divulge any further information in captivity.

The death of Theo Ashford opened a vacancy on the Captain’s Council. Captain Magnus the Bloody-Handed felt that Ellen Kiel had done enough to merit consideration to fill the spot, and he ensured she received an airship seized from the Aetherblades, thus making her a captain so she could be eligible for consideration. Covetous of power, the leader of the Black Lion Trading Post, Evon Gnashblade, nominated himself for the position as well. Lion’s Arch had made contact with the Zephyrites at this point, who had descended from their own airships to set up the Bazaar of the Four Winds, and both Ellen and Evon were dispatched to form a trade agreement with them, with the successful party winning the Captain’s Council position. The Zephyrite leader, the Master of Peace, said that he would sign an agreement with the individual that people respected more. This led to an impromptu election campaign, with both Ellen and Evon making various promises to players (and Evon trying his best to influence the election via bribery). The election wound up being very close, within 1%, but Ellen Kiel edged out the victory and filled the vacant Captain’s Council spot, leaving Gnashblade to stew impotently.

The Queen’s Jubilee was next in Divinity’s Reach, celebrating ten years of Queen Jennah’s reign. She had constructed the Crown Pavilion over the ruins of the Canthan District of Divinity’s Reach, and introduced the Watchknights, a human variant of golems that operated on cogs and gears. Rytlock Brimstone was invited as a representative of the Charr, but he declined to attend, instead sending the hero of the fight against the Molten Alliance, Rox, in his stead. She met up once more with Braham, who had come of his own volition to participate in the combat events set up. A ceremony attended by the Queen was disrupted when the Watchknights turned on their controllers, and the mysterious figure Scarlet Briar finally revealed herself. She attempted to kidnap Queen Jennah, but failed and only obtained Lord Faren instead, which wasn’t much of a consolation prize. Her Aetherblade Pirate minions joined in the attack alongside the newly turned Watchwork Horrors, with a band of Aetherblades likewise snatching the vagrant Hobo-Tron which had been panhandling in the area. Scarlet’s minions began attacking all across the world, with remnants of the Molten Alliance joining alongside the Aetherblades and Watchworks. Players needed to travel the world and fight off Scarlet’s invasions to capture enough technology to break back into the Crown Pavilion, where they took the fight to Scarlet, rescued Lord Faren and Hobo-Tron, and drove her out of the city. She vowed revenge.

After a brief Super Adventure Box interlude, Boss Week kicked off. Amid a revamp of several world bosses, Tequatl the Sunless, a minion of Zhaitan, had increased greatly in power. Rytlock Brimstone dispatched Rox to Sparkfly Fen to investigate, and she helped the players fight the newly empowered undead dragon.

(continued)

Lionguard intelligence discovered that Scarlet had made an arrangement with the Nightmare Court, obtaining a section of Twilight Arbour for her own use, which she had Aetherblades using to construct weapons and airships. Ellen Kiel dispatched the heroes to penetrate the dungeon to get revenge against Scarlet for Theo Ashford, and Caithe was also present, with Scarlet apparently planning to blackmail her over a secret she knew. The players and Caithe infiltrated the dungeon, confronted by holograms of Scarlet to taunt the players along with the Aetherblade defenders. Scarlet was clearly experimenting with holograms, as holographic defenders were among the Aetherblades doing battle. At the end of the dungeon, players discovered an attempt by Scarlet to merge the Watchwork technology with an Oakheart, leading to a battle against her Clockheart creation. With it defeated, the Lionguard were able to launch an assault on the dungeon. Caithe was unable to capture Scarlet, who continued to tease her about her mysterious secret. (This paragraph’s content is still playable, as the level 80 Aetherpath of Twilight Arbour)

During the Hallowe’en festivities, issues could be seen in Kessex Hills, as a large area was deforested and a magical veil seemed to be placed over Viathan Lake. Marjory Delaqua and Kasmeer Meade returned to investigate, and found that there was indeed an illusion over the lake, concealing what would be known as the Tower of Nightmares. Scarlet’s newest army was the Toxic Alliance, consisting of splinter factions of the Nightmare Court and the Krait. Their combined magics had granted Scarlet access to a powerful toxin that caused hallucinations in those who inhaled it. The Toxic Alliance set to work spreading those toxic spores in areas in and around Kessex Hills. Working with Marjory and Kasmeer, players eventually managed to infiltrate the Tower of Nightmares, discovering at the top of the tower the Toxic Hybrid, a half-Krait/half-Sylvari creation that the Krait hailed as their prophet returned, delivered by Scarlet. So, of course, the players killed it. Marjory deduced a way to destroy the apparently-living Tower with antitoxin, though the remnants of it are still visible in the lake. In the aftermath of the Tower’s destruction, Marjory and Kasmeer met Braham and Rox for the first time.

Wintersday that year included a relief effort to raise funds for damages dealt by Scarlet to Divinity’s Reach. The homeless golem Hobo-Tron had been arrested by the Seraph after his liberation by the players at the Queen’s Jubilee, being accused of conspiring with Scarlet. Sentenced to community service, he became Ho-Ho-Tron and was tasked with raising money at Lion’s Arch. He did this with his typical sarcasm.

(continued)

As 1327 dawned, Scarlet made her return with her newest creation, the giant watchwork mechanism the Twisted Marionette, which attacked in Lornar’s Pass. Marjory, Kasmeer, Rox and Braham all turned out to fight it off, along with the debuting character Taimi, an Asura who was obsessed with everything Scarlet and wanted to study her technology. Mysterious mechanical probes had been seen around the world for some time, but they were finally connected to Scarlet at this point, with Taimi speculating that she was using them to search for something. By collecting items from the Marionette fight, players were able to discover a secret lair of Scarlet hidden underneath the Durmond Priory. There, they found charts showing thorns around the Pale Tree, Scarlet’s attempts at making other alliances (sadly, the Quaggan/Centaur Coohoof Alliance she tried for didn’t work), journal entries that seemed to hint that she was battling something in her mind, and maps that seemed to point towards Lion’s Arch. At this point, Mai Trin broke free from custody and escaped via a new portal to the previously-undiscovered Edge of the Mists. Braham and Taimi pursued her there, with Taimi’s golem being damaged and the player needing to repair it. Back at Divinity’s Reach, Marjory, Kasmeer and Rox met with the players and the Asuran Emissary Vorpp to gather all their information about Scarlet to this point, to try to determine her motives. It was determined that Scarlet’s probes were seeking ley lines, magical currents of energy that travelled underground. The murder of Theo Ashford was an attempt to gain some control over Lion’s Arch. The Molten Alliance had helped Scarlet learn of magical portals, which she later integrated with her Watchworks and her army invasions, which were still ongoing in random zones at lesser intervals. The Aetherblades would provide air superiority, while the fear was raised that Scarlet had wanted Marjory and the players to create an antitoxin for her Tower of Nightmares so she could create a resistant, stronger strain of it. This led everyone to conclude that Scarlet intended to attack Lion’s Arch.

Of course, despite Ellen Kiel’s pleas, the Captain’s Council didn’t listen.

Scarlet’s attack on Lion’s Arch came from three prongs. The Aetherblades struck from the sky with their airships, the Toxic Alliance swam in under the sea past Claw Island, while the Molten Alliance simply created portals to enter the city. Scarlet’s own giant airship, the Breachmaker, followed the attacks into the now burning city, a giant drill on the bottom of it beginning to bore into the bay. Players were tasked with evacuating citizens from Lion’s Arch, having to fight through the poisonous miasma of Scarlet’s refined toxin to do so. Evon Gnashblade commandeered the Asura Gates to help evacuate his merchandise, closing the gates behind him to trap refugees in the city. Captain Magnus tried to marshal a defense at Fort Marriner, but wound up losing an eye in the fight with the returned Molten Berserker there. Ellen Kiel’s timely arrival on her airship helped Magnus and Lawson Marriner escape the city. Meanwhile, at a field hospital at Vigil Keep, Ho-Ho-Tron had rechristened himself Heal-o-Tron, trying to prove he wasn’t aligned with Scarlet by assisting the wounded. Seraph seeking his re-arrest ended that plan, so he wound up meeting with Evon Gnashblade instead, who offered to fit him with a combat chassis. Heal-o-Tron didn’t want offensive capabilities. Rather, he wanted as much defense as he could get…

(continued)

After as many people were evacuated as could be, with the toxic miasma killing roughly half of those who were exposed to it, a counterattack was planned to take the fight to Scarlet once favourable winds blew the miasma out to sea. Braham, Rox, Marjory, Kasmeer, Ellen Kiel and Heal-o-Tron all participated, splitting into three groups to attack three important points in the city. There, along with the players, they battled Scarlet’s Assault Knights. When all Assault Knights were defeated fast enough, portals opened to grant passage onto Scarlet’s ship the Breachmaker, where the players could clash with her in a final, epic fight. Scarlet activated her Prime Hologram to stop the players, setting up a half-hour long encounter where the players try to penetrate its defenses and survive its assault. Victory left Scarlet injured and retreating to the inner chambers of her ship, with the player, Braham, Rox, Marjory and Kasmeer pursuing her. Scarlet still had a few tricks up her sleeve, causing an explosion that broke Braham’s leg and nearly killed Marjory. As Rox tended to the wounded, Kasmeer and the player were left to deal with Scarlet. Kasmeer’s illusions distracted Scarlet long enough for the player to deliver the final blow, killing Scarlet on her ship. But it was too late. The Breachmaker’s drill finally reached the ley line convergence underneath Lion’s Arch. The resulting pulse of energy the contact created shot through the ley lines to the west, past the Thaumanova Reactor deep into the Maguuma Jungle, where it awakened the Elder Dragon Mordremoth.

And that was the end of Season One!

Demn lol…
Nice job Xiahou Mao.

WoodenPotatoes has said that he want to do a story recap of both Season 1 and 2 before HoT comes out. That type of thing seem to be what you’re looking for Koviko. Might have to wait a bit though.

Xiahou did it with impunity. I think that should be wiki’d.

The playlist and Xiahou’s write-up were just what I needed. I feel like I saw the content, myself, now!

This episodes will be aviable in the future like season 2 story?

/sticky

/bacon

Sennar.2309:

This episodes will be aviable in the future like season 2 story?

They are hoping to port the LS Season 1 episodes in a similar format than Season 2, but that means they have to rework most of the events/instances to make it work. We won’t see it for another year I guess…

Yeah, I can’t imagine it being a priority. It would be a nice way to allow SAB to be replayable, though.

Xiahou Mao.9701 thank you so much for explaining everything in so much detail. I bought the game just after end of season 1. Your write up pretty much summed up the entire season 1 for me.

Xiahou Mao.9701, thank you for that. I played GW2 back during the beta but left shortly after launch, and came back about two months ago because I really wanted to see all of the story. Not being able to go through the first season after the personal story (which, by the way, is incredibly difficult to follow now that they restructured it) left me feeling very lost, and somewhat discouraged. It’s nice to have at least some knowledge of what happened, and your description helped a bunch.

Now, on to Season 2 – hopefully I’ll be able to fill in all of the holes and it’ll be smooth sailing from here.