Most players are familiar with the origin of the word wurm: “Historical English-speaking cultures have used the (now deprecated) terms worm, Wurm, or wyrm to describe carnivorous reptiles (“serpents”), and the related mythical beasts dragons.” In GW2 we have a number of species of wurm such as Jungle Wurms, Plains Wurms, Ice/Snow Wurms, Undersea/Undersea Ice Wurms – even Draithor’s Wurms. Could they be related to the Elder Dragons?
There is a possibility that they are. Posters have long-suspected that at least one wurm is associated with an Elder Dragon: The Great Jungle Wurm of Wychmire Swamp in Caledon Forest. Their suspicions may be confirmed. Colin Johanson and Meelad Sadat have recently revealed the existence of a polycephalous Jungle Wurm dwelling in the Bloodtide Coast and as we know, Zaithan was a polycephalous Elder Dragon who, much like the recently-awakened Jungle Wurm “Bloodtide” was disturbed by what could be described as an enormous “thumper” – that is, the collapse of Orr. Furthermore, all of the Elder Dragons have arisen from somewhere under or close to the ground and have a loose affiliation with elements associated with rock, both its formation and erosion. Finally, Primordus is probably the best example of what could be a form of wurm, since he may not have wings and seems to content himself with subterranean activities (for now at least). These similarities suggest that wurms and Elder Dragons share a common ancestor.
But is there really any reason to associate the Great Jungle Wurm of Wychmire Swamp with an Elder Dragon?
From the outset, trying to argue that wurms are anything more than distant relations of the Elder Dragons is problematic. Within GW2, no wurms can be encountered that are openly labeled as corrupted – that is to say that there are no “Risen” “Branded” “Icebrood” or “Destroyer” Wurms, even though wurms such as Ice Wurms (dwelling in the Far Shiverpeaks) and Undersea Wurms (dwelling in the Sea of Sorrows) live in the midst of Elder Dragon territory and Zaithan seems capable of corrupting armies of grubs, which also inhabit the ground. This could just be due to resource constraints though. Still, if there is no evidence to suggest that resource-constraints are the reason for this absence, maintaining that argument does nothing to clarify the situation. (For an example of a successful argument in favor of resource-constraints, consider that although models of corrupted centaurs are not encountered in-game, concept art depicts them. The point is simply that such an argument must be backed by evidence.)
Alternatively, it could be that wurms are naturally resistant to a number of things, including magic, as wurms in GW1 often had “natural resistance”.
The only perplexing (current) example of a “corrupted” wurm in GW2 is a “Nightmare Vine”. Most likely this is what was once a Maguuman Jungle Wurm. If it can be corrupted, surely other wurms can too? Isn’t this evidence in favor of a resource-constraint argument? I think that this is unlikely, primarily due to the nature of Nightmare “corruption”. Nightmare forces presently include sylvari, sylvan hounds, husks, vines and spiders; not all of these creatures are converted in the same way. Granted, they are converted through fear, but whereas sylvari may turn to Nightmare because they fear something in the Dream, sylvan hounds are (probably) turned for fear of cruel sylvari; in like manner, spiders and vines are probably tamed (in a similar way to how Ogre’s tame their pets).
Because Maguuman Jungle Wurms are tamed into Nightmare Vines, they are not corrupted “magically” in the same way as every other Elder Dragon minion. Thus, at a fundamental level, Nightmare “corruption” differs from Elder Dragon corruption. (Players may remember the example of Honor’s Voice: She was corrupted by a servant of Jormag using magic rather than violence per se. The manner of her turning is a perfect example of true Elder Dragon corruption at work.)
(This is a joke)