Guild Wars 2

So what with all the talk about the Mists recently, a few questions have risen up for me. So to clarify, this isn’t a theory thread, but more of a possibility check, that is, what is and is not possible in the Mists, with evidence etc.

So I’ve read a lot about Abaddon and how it’s impossible we meet him because we’ve killed him. Aside from the devs saying it’s unlikely, is it possible for Scarlet to meet a previous version of Abaddon, like in the past? Or is it because we killed Abaddon in the Mists, he is unable to manifest in the Mists at all, past and present versions of himself.

Since the Mists are described as the connection of the multi-verse, could we see multiple versions of Scarlet? Maybe even versions of of NPCs that are reversed(heroes gone bad, villains gone good) etc. Or is that just a description that Anet are not keen to explore, making multi-verse theories unlikely?

Additionally, the Mists seems to act as some sort of afterlife(very confusing). What happens if you die in the Mists? If you die in the real world, do you ALWAYS go to the Mists, or is that a right reserved for certain individuals?

Could we potentially see our old GW1 heroes as “ghosts” in the Mists? Heroes like Mhenlo, Devona, Jora etc.? Would be a great throwback to the veterans and a possibility to add new compelling heroes who may give us just a bit more insight into what happened to the world after our story ended in GW1.

Any answers and additional questions/theories all welcome in this thread!

Sorry if any of these questions seem obvious to you, but the Mists wiki article didn’t have much to go from, so thanks for your patience

IF he were to show up in a fractal it would be a copy of a past version of him – so it’s technically not the real thing. The Fractals do not create absolutely faithful copies, they’re more of an artistic reinterpretation.

Given that we don’t fully know everything about the Gods or how the Mists work I don’t think anyone can really comment on if she could see Abbadon or not. My personal inclination is that even if she could it’s not like he could exert any power over our world or outside of the mists. Think about how Dessa seems to be trapped in the Mistlock observatory – my guess is that all fractals function like this – they can’t influence anything outside of themselves.

As to going to the mists when you die – it’s more complex than that.
The Underworld is within the mists, but as far as we know we’ve only seen dead humans there.

Yes we could technically see Mhenlo, Devona etc. as Ghosts/Souls in the underworld.

I’ll try my best to answer some of these.

So I’ve read a lot about Abaddon and how it’s impossible we meet him because we’ve killed him. Aside from the devs saying it’s unlikely, is it possible for Scarlet to meet a previous version of Abaddon, like in the past? Or is it because we killed Abaddon in the Mists, he is unable to manifest in the Mists at all, past and present versions of himself.

From what we know the Mists, you don’t really see past/present/future versions of events. You see imperfect copies of events and possibilities of the future. None are totally accurate, but they can give us glimpse into the past and future.

While it could be possibly for Scarlet to have ran into a Mist-born copy of a past version of Abaddon, I don’t find it very likely. The devs have already stated that he’s dead, and that his story has ended. Even if it is only a copy, it would still be “Abaddon” effecting the story. Something that they don’t want. The most we can hope for on that front is the devs expanding on his backstory: his predecessor, rise to power, and whatnot.

Since the Mists are described as the connection of the multi-verse, could we see multiple versions of Scarlet? Maybe even versions of of NPCs that are reversed(heroes gone bad, villains gone good) etc. Or is that just a description that Anet are not keen to explore, making multi-verse theories unlikely?

The Mist does connect the multi-verse, but any expansion on it, beyond WvW and fringe story elements, might be a little too science fiction for this fantasy game.

Additionally, the Mists seems to act as some sort of afterlife(very confusing). What happens if you die in the Mists? If you die in the real world, do you ALWAYS go to the Mists, or is that a right reserved for certain individuals?

I would imagine you would still go to your afterlife if you died in the Mists. Unless your spirit stays earthbound as ghost, it would most likely travel to the Underworld to be judged. Then it would be spend to its final destination. That might change depending on faith. Though, external factors might change that destination. I remember anyone in association with Abaddon in gw1, no matter how small, got stuck in the Realm of Torment.

Could we potentially see our old GW1 heroes as “ghosts” in the Mists? Heroes like Mhenlo, Devona, Jora etc.? Would be a great throwback to the veterans and a possibility to add new compelling heroes who may give us just a bit more insight into what happened to the world after our story ended in GW1.

Possibly. It would depend if they ever open up travel to the Underworld and the Hall of Heroes.

As far as the dying in the Mists thing goes, it really depends. There doesn’t seem to be any uniform process by which souls reach their afterlife, even coming from Tyria. In GW1, for instance, we saw people who went from their lives to the Underworld so fast they didn’t even notice the transition, but we also saw souls that had to be found and guided to the afterlife by Envoys (which was basically a cosmic community service sentence for the worst kind of killers). And, of course, there are those who never move on. Even that span of variations only takes into account humans- we know nothing about the afterlife of other races for a fact, except that charr could be sucked into the Realm of Torment just the same as humans, and that a variety of other races are also capable of remaining behind as ghosts.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Even that span of variations only takes into account humans- we know nothing about the afterlife of other races for a fact, except that charr could be sucked into the Realm of Torment just the same as humans, and that a variety of other races are also capable of remaining behind as ghosts.

I kinda want to see a Charr being sent to the Underworld. The thought of them going before Grenth to be judged, and them trying to possibly kill Grenth and his reapers, would be too funny to pass up.

Erukk.1408:

The thought of them going before Grenth to be judged, and them trying to possibly kill Grenth and his reapers, would be too funny to pass up.

- Read that as, A Charr taking one step towards Grenth and then collapsing into a pile of dust…

Ok, so thanks for the clarification on fractals. But that does mean Scarlet could potentially meet a representation of Abaddon for knowledge etc. This isn’t me agreeing with that theory(I personally don’t think it likely), but still possible. I see people toting around saying like it’s fact that Abaddon can not reappear and I think it’s just a little unfair to rule peoples opinions off like that.

Also, yeah, about the afterlife, we could potentially meet non-human heroes in the Mists since we don’t know where they reside. Also, once in the UW, can those ghosts ever break out?

So the afterlife =\= UW, so if you were to die in the UW, you would continue to the afterlife? Or is that whole procedure sketchy too.

If Scarlet had access to Mistlock Observatory, then yes, she could meet with a recreation of Abaddon- but that recreation would have no reason to be cooperative, and as an imperfect copy even if it was helpful Scarlet could never be 100% sure that any information that he gave her was correct.

But yes, she could meet a version of him.

In theory, yes, but it would require unbelievably exceptional circumstances. The only example that I can think of is Mad King Thorn, and even he is limited to a single day out of every year, and at only partial power to boot. Also worth noting, even though it isn’t exactly a spirit breaking out under its own power- under certain (mostly unknown) conditions, Zhaitan corrupting a corpse will cause the spirit once belonging to that body to be “stolen” back into this world and trapped within the new minion, unable to control or affect what the body does.

The afterlife, for humans, almost always equals the Underworld, or is at the very least routed through the Underworld. We know from GW1 that if a mortal (human) is killed in the Underworld, his spirit is pulled to a certain part of the Underworld, and the afterlife theoretically proceeds as normal from there. After that… the evidence for this is even more lacking then the evidence for all these other topics, but from a couple of references, it seems like a spirit being destroyed while in the Underworld (or, in theory, any other part of the Mists) is gone forever. Poof. That’s it. No third chances. There seems to be a limited number of entities with the power and will to do such a thing, though.

We only say it’s a fact that Abaddon can’t reappear, because as of right now, that is Anet’s official stance on the matter. So, it is a fact. They have stated that he is dead, and his story ended in Nightfall. If they ever decide to change their minds, they would be going against their own words.

Also, once in the UW, can those ghosts ever break out?

Stuff breaks out of the Underworld all the time. Though, like Aaron said, Thorns seems to be the only one to be able to do in reliably.

So the afterlife =\= UW, so if you were to die in the UW, you would continue to the afterlife? Or is that whole procedure sketchy too.

You would probably leave your physical body behind, and your soul would go to the beginning of the Labyrinth, the beginning part of the Underworld. That’s where new souls seem to go. The new souls that wish to pledge their eternal devotion to Grenth get led to a town nearby. That leave the possibility of the other gods having their own afterlives as well. Which the new souls might get a chance to go to, after they have been judged by Grenth in the Underworld.

It’s worth noting, though, that the stuff that breaks out of the Underworld is largely aatxes- which are native to that place- and shades- which are of unknown origin, but appear to be similar creatures to aatxe. None of those are ghosts. The only place we see former humans leave the Underworld is Godslost Swamp, and like with the risen, it doesn’t seem to be by their own choice, given that they dissipate as soon as the shade tormenting them has been dealt with.