Guild Wars 2

The Sylvari are an odd subject, their origin is very mysterious, but it seems be rather clear they are tied to Mordremoth. In Arah, it is revealed that the forgotten, one of the ancient five races, developed a ritual, that freed Glint from Kralkatorrik’s influence, what’s not known is, was that the only time this ritual was used? It seems unlikely that such a powerful tool would go unused. I think it’s possible that the Pale Tree’s seed, which we may soon learn much about, was created in a similar process to the Glint we known. Recent evidence points at the forgotten having some involvement in the Silverwastes, which strengthens the likeliness of this connection. Glint, like the Pale Tree, clearly does not like the Elder Dragons, both also are capable of reproduction. I think Mawdrey is parallel to the Sylvari, as Glint’s Egg may be as well. Mawdrey has taught us that creations of an elder dragon can be cultured in an isolated environment and be effected by the influence of… the playable races? In any case, I suspect a similar relation of the Sylvari to the Pale Tree, even Scarlet seems to ponder the influence the Pale Tree has over the Sylvari. It’s been suggested to that the influences that culture Glint’s Egg could be very significant in defeating, or being defeated by the elder dragons. The point is that all of these things have pretty clear relationships, and influence seems to play a powerful role in these creations which descend from the elder dragons.

Another key thing to point out, the Pale Tree, like Glint, is very knowledgeable about the elder dragons, the Sylvari are very new, they don’t have any knowledge of the human gods for example, and yet they’re well informed of the elder dragons, Glint shares this unique feature, as the other races had no clue until it was too late.

I did not cover a topic as well as I intended, and that was how the Sylvari and Mordremoth are related. The Pale Tree claims she shields her Sylvari from the influence of Elder Dragons, Mordremoth in particular. This seems to be true, however, it also seems that Mordremoth calls out to these Sylvari, Scarlet mentioned a dark entity, which turns out is Mordremoth, it tries to hijack her mind or something along those lines. What this indicates to me is that while the Pale Tree, like Glint, may now be totally immune to her master’s corruption and influence, their creations, such as the Sylvari and Glint’s egg, are still vulnerable to these. The Pale Tree uses her influence to protect Sylvari, which she claims is weakening. This potentially is the answer to the mystery of Glint’s children being evil or good, it just depends how much exposure they receive to the elder dragons as they can become corrupted, or at least influenced in the case of Scarlet. In any case, I bet this will be answered next Tuesday!

Mushroomz.4280:

The Sylvari are an odd subject, their origin is very mysterious, but it seems be rather clear they are tied to Mordremoth.

You’ve just contradicted yourself.

If their origin is mysterious, then it is not clear if they’re tied to anything in regards to their origin.

Besides this is a tried and dried hypothesis that, in the end, has no solid support and has plenty of debunking factors.

To counter:

Mushroomz.4280:

In Arah, it is revealed that the forgotten, one of the ancient five races, developed a ritual, that freed Glint from Kralkatorrik’s influence, what’s not known is, was that the only time this ritual was used? It seems unlikely that such a powerful tool would go unused. I think it’s possible that the Pale Tree’s seed, which we may soon learn much about, was created in a similar process to the Glint we known.

The magic Elder Dragons use to corrupt things is ancient, powerful, and barely understood by the greatest magical minds on Tyria. There have been spells that could successfully cleanse a living thing of dragon corruption (see the Ruined City of Arah dungeon’s Forgotten path, or the climax of the Pact’s campaign in Orr) but they are not well understood, require significant resources to cast, and must be cast in a particular geographic location, so they are not universally available.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/lore/New-lore-interview-to-Anet-lore-team/first#post4226670

This easily explains why it would be used only once. On top of that, the Arah dungeon path makes it sound like the races were on the losing end, and that Glint hid the races shortly after being given free will and breaking from Kralkatorrik.

The most important part, however, is the requiring of a particular geographical location. Singular. That means the ritual can only be cast at The Altar of Glaust in Arah.

There may be other, unknown, rituals, but I presume they’re just as difficult and requiring.

Mushroomz.4280:

Recent evidence points at the forgotten having some involvement in the Silverwastes, which strengthens the likeliness of this connection.

The Forgotten had presence all over the world. That’s not very unique.

Mushroomz.4280:

Glint, like the Pale Tree, clearly does not like the Elder Dragons, both also are capable of reproduction.

Questionable in Glint’s case. Dragon minions are incapable of reproduction via natural means – the “minion factories” are really just spreading corruption to create new minions – be the subject of the corruption be corpses, prisoners, or the land itself.

This actually acts against your own statement: The Pale Tree is capable of reproduction – of creating things, not twisting them – thus is unlike any dragon minion we know.

In Glint’s case, we don’t know if the eggs are traditionally laid, or are akin to the destroyer eggs we see in the skritt storyline – or akin to the branded crystals, icebrood ice, etc. that spawn corrupted beings made out of inorganic materials (unless a creature was trapped inside). Glint had Crystal Spiders and Crystal Guardians in GW1 – they may be her form of “corruption of the land”. These eggs may be too. Alternatively, it’s known that dragon minions can lay eggs if they were pregnant when corrupted – thus Glint, who’s heavily hinted to having been a corrupted being rather than a corrupted construct (like the Shatterer), may have been pregnant when corrupted by Kralkatorrik. Thus once more ruining your comparison.

The only hope this comment holds is if we discover something brand new – if we discover a case of dragon minions holding natural reproduction. However, creatures of crystals and creatures of plant doing this are two very different things, so even if we see a Mordrem doing such, does not mean all dragon minions can.

Mushroomz.4280:

I think Mawdrey is parallel to the Sylvari, as Glint’s Egg may be as well. Mawdrey has taught us that creations of an elder dragon can be cultured in an isolated environment and be effected by the influence of… the playable races? In any case, I suspect a similar relation of the Sylvari to the Pale Tree, even Scarlet seems to ponder the influence the Pale Tree has over the Sylvari. It’s been suggested to that the influences that culture Glint’s Egg could be very significant in defeating, or being defeated by the elder dragons. The point is that all of these things have pretty clear relationships, and influence seems to play a powerful role in these creations which descend from the elder dragons.

As I pointed out in the other thread you brought Mawdrey up, we put a LOT of different strange magical artifacts with Mawdrey: Bloodstone pieces, ley line infused stones, Foefire magic, Destroyer magic, etc.

Any one of those could have altered Mawdrey in a way similar to the Forgottne ritual.

Then there’s a chance that the description is a red herring:

After spending so much time cultivating this powerful vine through the generations, it’s hard to not feel an attachment to it. Your beloved pet almost cuddles you in its tendrils. Clearly it feels a similar attachment.

Mordrem are very well known for strangulation and otherwise crushing their victims within vines. Is Mawdrey really cuddling you? Or is it just too weak to hurt you as it tries to crush your lungs and throat?

Another thing you miss is that dragon minions don’t have free will. Sylvari do. So raising sylvari is fundamentally different than raising a dragon minion unaffected by a ritual. Regardless of the sylvari’s origins.

And finally, what is meant by the culturing of the baby dragon is a case of nature vs. nurture – basically, the child already has free will (due to being Glint’s offspring) as proven by Gleam (Glint’s older child seen in Eye of the North), so if you can raise a child to be an evil kitten that does your bidding and that egg happens to have that child: congratulations, you have an evil dragon that will do your bidding! It’s not a case of “winning against or losing to the Elder Dragons” when that raising argument is brought up, but simply that the baby dragon will be a threat if not raised properly.

Mushroomz.4280:

Another key thing to point out, the Pale Tree, like Glint, is very knowledgeable about the elder dragons, the Sylvari are very new, they don’t have any knowledge of the human gods for example, and yet they’re well informed of the elder dragons, Glint shares this unique feature, as the other races had no clue until it was too late.

The Pale Tree knows via the Dream. Sylvari go and learn things about the dragons – that knowledge gets sent to the Dream – the Pale Tree learns it via the Dream.

Glint knew of the Elder Dragons because she was part of the hive mind with an Elder Dragon. The Pale Tree was raised within the past 250 years – she never had this opportunity. Their knowledge comes from different sources outright.

Mushroomz.4280:

I did not cover a topic as well as I intended, and that was how the Sylvari and Mordremoth are related. The Pale Tree claims she shields her Sylvari from the influence of Elder Dragons, Mordremoth in particular. This seems to be true, however, it also seems that Mordremoth calls out to these Sylvari, Scarlet mentioned a dark entity, which turns out is Mordremoth, it tries to hijack her mind or something along those lines.

You have it backwards. Mordremoth is the one the Pale Tree can’t shield against. The reason isn’t clear yet, but there’s heavy hints that the Nightmare is related (there are many heavy ties between the Nightmare and Mordrem – from the Shadow of the Dragon in the sylvari tutorial being the cause of spreading Nightmare, to the earliest Mordrem, called Overgrown, using Nightmare plant models, to a Thorn Wolf being amongst Mordrem in Dry Top to the most recent: Nightmare Pods in Silverwastes) – perhaps even Caithe’s secret is tied to this reason.

If the Nightmare is indeed Mordremoth’s doing – directly or indirectly – then that is likely how Mordremoth is bypassing the protection. Reason I say this is because it’s heavily implied by Ogden that the connection to the Dream is the cause of the protection; Vorpp, in turn, suggested back in Season 1 that the then-unknown “entity” entered Scarlet via the Dream; and lastly, when we speak to the Pale Tree after the attack (or was it some other sylvari/NPC?) it’s stated that she managed to prevent the damage going to the Dream – she was protecting the Dream more than her own mind… why? It’s clear the Dream is vitally important in the Pale Tree’s eyes.

Mushroomz.4280:

What this indicates to me is that while the Pale Tree, like Glint, may now be totally immune to her master’s corruption and influence, their creations, such as the Sylvari and Glint’s egg, are still vulnerable to these.

Ah, but the Pale Tree isn’t immune to Mordremoth’s influence! The attack on the Pale Tree during the World Summit was explicitly stated – during Echoes of the Past when talking to Trahearne and again in Episode 7 during the first instance – to have affected her mind greatly.

Mordremoth’s powers and influence reach to both plants and mind.

Mushroomz.4280:

In any case, I bet this will be answered next Tuesday!

You sure are optimistic, given the number of cliffhangers we’ve been having one after another, and how many unanswered questions there still are from Season 1.