Guild Wars 2

So there’s enough Scarlet-hate threads, I don’t need that brought here. I’m making this to post my thoughts and theories to explain, in at least a semi-reasonable manner, both how Scarlet has gotten so many to work with her, why she needs them, and what she intends to do from what she gained out of them. This is just my attempt to un-bend the lore that Scarlet’s plot is risking to break (but hasn’t quite yet if you dig enough).

Note: This is almost all theorycrafting based off of the few facts we gained

The Molten Alliance
The facts behind the dredge and Flame Legion prior to the Molten Alliance is that they both were plunged into civil war – Flame Legion Tribunes fighting against each other (per CoE path 3), and the old moletariate being usurped by a new not-corrupted one (per SE path 2 and 3). The outcome of either civil war – if there is a conclusion yet – is unknown.

I have been believing that it is just a single Tribune of the Flame Legion who began working with Scarlet, and that it is the old moletariate, formerly led by Shukov, who is working with Scarlet. For the moletariate, whom are mentioned by the Molten Alliance dredge and the Whispers’ spy in the MA, they were willing to work with the asura and sylvari (specifically saying that the Inquest were allies and that the dredge would “humble the sylvari”), leading them to work with Scarlet being not unreasonable in of itself. And via the Destroyer path, we know that they sought the power of fire for overtaking the surface.

My theory is that Scarlet used her Inquest ties (whatever may remain – some must given their presence during Dragon Bash/Sky Pirates of Tyria) to find out about the old moletariate’s actions. Knowing that the Destroyers failed, Scarlet came up with an alternative that they didn’t like but were too powerhungry (per the Prisoner at the end of Flame and Frost) that they didn’t care.

After its formation, the MA could have then led to the victory of the civil war(s) – or not, hard to tell with no delving into dredge and Flame outside of the Molten Alliance.

Aetherblades
The Aetherblades are a hard case to pin down. I’m guessing that she rounded up the remnants of Taidha’s armada – the Order of Whispers intended to get that easy-going captain (forgot name) be the new leader, but nothing says that succeeded. What if Mai Trin was able to succeed Taidha but still had the Order of Whispers on her back? Uniting those pirates of multiple captains into the Aetherblades and working with the Inquest would give them the leverage they needed against the secret organization. And getting that captain’s seat would give them amity from the Lionguard. This would explain their motivation for joining Scarlet – and once Mai Trin failed to take the seat, the Aetherblades were too deep in Scarlet’s insanity to back out – and it would explain their numbers as Taidha commanded the largest pirate armada in modern times, IIRC.

Toxic Alliance
The Nightmare Court involved is only a splinter faction – probably a fallout faction from the three-way battle in Twilight Arbor. Scarlet gets their help by promising the spreading of the Nightmare (be it truth or lies). They’re the easy ones to figure out, since the Court’s motives are so simple. Even their own pain furthers the Nightmare so they’d be willing to risk enslavement by the krait.

As for the krait – I wouldn’t be surprised if she sent ether a hologram to contact the Oratuss or she had Courtiers go one after another until the krait got tired of killing the messengers and listened to it, being promised a chance for the return of their prophets and obtaining a shattered obelisk that was “found.” How it was found? Numerous ways. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were originally brought to Tyria by the krait, but stolen by the Aetherblades and held for ransom or “returned by those who killed the thieves.” Alternatively, the “Toxic Hybrid” we’ve seen the art of could be a Mordremoth-corrupted krait oratuss – the corruption and means of free will obtained by the Inquest who via Subject Alpha, Zone Green/Experimental Green Lab, and Kudu are known to have both Mordremoth’s corruption and a means of retaining free will after corruption.

Steam creatures
This is really the kittene to guess. Since the Queen’s Jubilee we’ve seen the Steam creatures as part of Scarlet’s invasions. The Clockheart seen in Twilight Arbor’s new Aetherpath is cybornetic, like the Molten Berserker and the Steam creatures. I suspect that their involvement goes only so far as that Scarlet captured some and reverse-engineered their technology to give her teleportation and her cyborgs.

Scarlet’s plans
This is hard to figure out but I got a good theory I think.

We were told that the Jubilee was done on a whim, so it likely doesn’t play into her overarching schemes. So let’s look at what each alliance and asset (Molten Alliance, Aetherblades, Steam creatures, and Toxic Alliance) gives:

• Molten Alliance in forming gives fire-infused sonic tech, and they mined a very special magical-conductive mineral known as azurite.
• Aetherblades in forming gives lighting-infused tech which includes fast teleportation, and they stole the hologram projectors that gave her a nigh unlimited army.
• Toxic Alliance in forming gives that hallucinogen toxin, anything else is currently unknown. But that Toxic Hybrid is a curious case to consider.
• Then there’s also the Steam creatures of unclear connections – via the Clockheart it seems she reverse engineered them to make a cyborg treant that acts as a power generator. This is the second of two cyborgs she’s had made (well “second” if you count each Molten Berserker as just one, as the Berserker and Firestorms were the leaders of each individual Molten Facility).

Most of the main parts of her actions are about obtaining advanced weaponry/technology and new sources of power. Even hijacking the Watchknights go to this, giving her new robotic material designs beyond the Steam creatures to work with.

Her goal as we know is to effectively destroy the Dream and Nightmare – to remove the predetermination (aka Wyld Hunts and Dark Hunts) of her race. Why she needs this technology though… Connecting the two dots is hard to do – we’re obviously still missing stuff.

My theory however is that she’s making some sort of hallucinogen bomb to drop on the Grove, making them hallucinate and break them from the Dream in ways not yet explained. And she’d do the same to Nightmare Courtiers. And with the Toxic Alliance, she’ll have all the materials she needs (Aetherblades for air transportation, Molten Alliance for “lighting the fuse”, Toxic Alliance for the hallucinogen). The Clockheart was probably meant to power this, but with its death she got pushed back.

There will only be the need to alpha-test it – which is likely to be January’s content (presuming she doesn’t crash Wintersday). And February’s or March’s content will be the end of Scarlet (crosses fingers).

Thanks for compiling all of this info! Fantastic resource.

On top of trying to free the Sylvari from the Dream and Nightmare, I think that Scarlet might want to do something against the Pale Tree as well. What that is, i’m not really sure at this point, but she seemed very fixated by it in the short story.

“Disappointment soured Ceara’s fascination. Was this it, then? Were the lives of all sylvari so easily encapsulated? Birth, travel, experience, death, all played out under the dictates and philosophies of the godlike entity that created them?”

~

“Then Ceara was the vine, squeezing the great tree’s trunk like a desperate lover. The tree struggled against her: she was meant to be part of it, to participate in its grand purpose. Instead, she was no more than an irritant, a provocation.”

Scarlet doesn’t like the control the Dream, Nightmare, and the Pale Tree has over the Sylvari. Other than maybe the Soundless, they guide and shape the entire race’s life. But, Scarlet seem, to me anyway, to see herself on the same level at the Pale Tree.

She sees herself as someone who is suppose to lead the Sylvari to their next evolution, and the manipulations of the Dream/Nightmare/Pale Tree as keeping them in a cycle that would lead to their demise.

" She refused to accept that. Everything she had learned said that no system, no matter how complex, can perpetuate itself indefinitely. Those that did not evolve inevitably failed."

The Tower of Nightmares is located in Viathan Lake. The lake is named after a leviathan which a fisherman claimed he caught there. So it’s safe to assume that the Krait work with/worship these things and we will be fighting one in the next release. I’ve attached a picture. I believe that the leviathan will be a dragon champion.

Regarding the tower itself, I am going out on a limb and saying that the giant toxic offshoot is actually the tail of Mordramoth and the smaller toxic offshoots are part of his body rising out of the ground. If you remember Kralkatorrik’s back was a mountain range in-between the Dalada Uplands and the Grothmar Wardowns (which can be clearly seen in-game and on maps from Guild Wars 1).

The ‘nightmare’ of the Nightmare Court comes from Mordramoth, so I think the inclusion of so many nightmares surrounding these toxic offshoots is a hint. Also the toxin functions so similar to branded or icebrood that I have to assume this is directly related to Mordramoth.

Scarlet’s goal is stated in the short story, "The forces that push us this way or that can be redirected. They can be set against one another to the detriment of both, and now I know how.” Is she setting dragons against eachother, or is she setting the Tyrian races against themselves? I don’t know.

The main hole in my theory is that the Krait and the Leviathan fit so much better with Bubbles than Mordramoth.

It appears that Scarlet has recruited five separate forces that give her troops on the ground + underground, sea + undersea, the air. We still don’t know why these groups all put their troops under Scarlet’s command or what they expect to gain from the alliances. Did Scarlet attack Queen Jennah at the request of the Fire Legion? Are the Nightmare Court hoping to creates fear with toxins that will change the balance of dream and nightmare? It is really all speculation.

I’m hoping that Scarlet’s story isn’t going to suddenly U-turn into things not shown so far in the story. Sticking to the existing story can limit the speculation on Scarlet’s goals. She hasn’t shown any indication of using draconic research so perhaps she never will and it is just speculation to link her with the jungle or deep sea dragon somehow. I expect that her ties to the Inquest and her view of the eternal alchemy will be explored inside the game itself sometime. If it is important it can’t just be a website story. Any storylines about the eternal alchemy could involve Zoija, the only member of Destiny’s Edge not to have been part of the Scarlet story so far.

It is quite sad that we don’t know Scarlet’s motives other than “lets break things”. Although she likes to cause trouble she hasn’t broken anything yet. There are an increasing number of hints towards nightmare in Scarlet’s actions but perhaps this is just the storyline of the month. I still expect Caithe’s secrets and Faolin to appear at some stage and be moderately important to Scarlet’s story.

Interesting. I’d like to point a few things that I don’t understand/miss from your theory and maybe while writing, I’ll drop a few speculations in myself, we’ll see how it goes!

- Did I missread this or have you said nothing about the Twisted Nightmare creatures? Or do you mean the watchknights by these. They look like these a lot, with the watckwork theme around them. Still I would consider them as an at least as big ally as the steam creatures, as she has TONS of them. They come from the same portals as the Aetherblades, but they never spawn together…

On a side note, I find it interesting that they changed the appearance of these portals in terms of where the creatures are coming from. The best picture I could get of both was this of the old one: http://i.imgur.com/KhBTSHb.jpg
And this of the new one: (kitten , I appear to have taken a bad screenshot, but you guys must know what I am talking about)

-I think you are much too less thinking about the portal tech/science here. Scarlet didn’t get the portal tech from the Aetherblades, as also the MA could make portals. Think about the portals in Wayfarer Foothills during F&F. These orange coloured portals. These apeared to have been made by the Flame Legion Shamans. So they casn make portals too. Scarlet herself is not known to make the portals with her own magic/energy, although many just assume she can do this. THIS tech, she could have gotten from the Aetherblades. I also noticed that Scarlet could float in mid-air during the Jubilee, so she probably is making these portals herself.

-I have never seen any of the steam creatures come from their realms portals, so the reverse engineering idea is a good one. However, during the Emissairy Vorrp field quest, we need to go to a steam device in gendarran fields, where there is also a steam portal: On this page you can see it.

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/473/feature/7708/Guild-Wars-2-Clockwork-Chaos.htmlNK/utm_campaign/MMORPG%20Newsletter/utm_source/MMORPG/utm_medium/email/eatrack/[%7Cemail%7C],7

This raises the question on how good she really is with portal knowledge. Just to point this out

Now about the Toxic Alliance.
- Scarlet seems to care about them more than she does with the other alliances. She didn’t care with the MA what they were doing in the meantime and she didn’t care with the Aetherblades, as long as she gets from them what she wants. This is why I think the flower is the big project of Scarlet. She is going to do more with it, we just don’t know what yet.

- The flower raises the big question. Why is it there and why does she need the Krait. I am one hundred percent sure she could have pulled this off without the help of the Krait, as they don’t seem to be into intoxicating people, but more like flooding them. This is what bothers me, what is the role of the Krait in all this, apart from them being pretty smart. I made a post on the reddit of Guild Wars 2 about that and here is an abstract of this. I’d like to hear you opinion on this Konig. I’ll post more when it comes to my mind but for now this will do.

“Ill start this right off. Once you collect all the obelisk shards for the current meta-archievement, the NPC says that the shard are quite similar to the Bloodstone Shards. Now if my knowledge isn’t failing me, the Bloodstone Shards contained a huge amount of magic. So the Obelisk Shard should also contain much magic. Scarlet needs to get large amounts of energy, in order ro be able to manipulate time and space, in order to make her vision (explained in the short story) true. I am speculating further on this speculation because I think it was a likely theory. I think /u/Psynchrony¹ [+2] came up with this first so credits to him. Now as for the Obelisk. I think the Krait are the only one who can actually do something with the shards. They contain a lot of some form of magic/energy. The speculation: Scarlet provided the Obelisk Shards for the Krait, gaining their friendship, so that she can either steal the magic that they tap from the shards (Scarlet is fooling the Krait) , OR she is actively working together with the Krait to launch a direct powerful attack (maybe through the nightmare tower) that will benefit both sides. I am being very shallow here and I just wrote down what first came to my mind, resulting in an incredible loose end.”

Erukk.1408:

On top of trying to free the Sylvari from the Dream and Nightmare, I think that Scarlet might want to do something against the Pale Tree as well.

Good point but the Pale Tree is the caretaker of the Dream so one can view ridding the sylvari of the Dream and Wyld Hunts to also be doing something against the Pale Tree to make her no longer the caretaker of the Dream.

Brimwald.5894:

The Tower of Nightmares is located in Viathan Lake. The lake is named after a leviathan which a fisherman claimed he caught there. So it’s safe to assume that the Krait work with/worship these things and we will be fighting one in the next release. I’ve attached a picture. I believe that the leviathan will be a dragon champion.

I disagree that it is “safe to assume” – we know who they worship, the Prophets. The leviathans are just natural sea creatures – many bones of which are seen throughout Orr and elsewhere along the Sea of Sorrows’ shore. Leviathans are basically giant sharks in appearance. Krait don’t worship them and though I wouldn’t doubt that they tame some leviathans, I doubt they “work with” them.

Furthermore, we have years-old confirmation that the leviathans are not dragon minions if that’s what you mean at the end – it was a statement after the Manifesto video came out where a leviathan was featured at the end and Regina and others stated that it is unrelated to the Elder Dragons.

Fun fact: there’s at least two leviathan models that were found in the gw.dat and event info for a Mount Maelstrom leviathan event (chain?) involving leviathans – I suspected that the Blood Witch’s “pet” which she had sacrifices for was to be for a leviathan pet.

Brimwald.5894:

Regarding the tower itself, I am going out on a limb and saying that the giant toxic offshoot is actually the tail of Mordramoth and the smaller toxic offshoots are part of his body rising out of the ground. If you remember Kralkatorrik’s back was a mountain range in-between the Dalada Uplands and the Grothmar Wardowns (which can be clearly seen in-game and on maps from Guild Wars 1).

Interesting theory but I’m doubtful. We have multiple mentions of “a toxic seed has been sown” which to me implies that Scarlet provided the Toxic Alliance a special seed – I’ve been theorizing that the secret of Caithe’s that she knows is Malyck and that she found the cave of seeds Ronan got the Pale Tree’s seed from, and that the plant the tower’s built around is said seed – it’s been hastened in growing by sylvari magic (whom are well known for growing plants) but it isn’t mature enough to produce any sylvari itself (or it’s been so corrupted in its growing that it cannot). The leaves of the main plant are rather similar to the Pale Tree’s leaves too (at least to me), though not entirely.

Brimwald.5894:

The ‘nightmare’ of the Nightmare Court comes from Mordramoth, so I think the inclusion of so many nightmares surrounding these toxic offshoots is a hint. Also the toxin functions so similar to branded or icebrood that I have to assume this is directly related to Mordramoth.

Just wanting to note, that the whole “Nightmare comes from Mordremoth” thing is pure fan speculation right now. A theory I adhere to but you shouldn’t state it as fact, since it isn’t.

And a side note: the toxin actually doesn’t function like icebrood or branded – dragon corruption is permanent. The toxins are not necessarily so.

Brimwald.5894:

Scarlet’s goal is stated in the short story, "The forces that push us this way or that can be redirected. They can be set against one another to the detriment of both, and now I know how.” Is she setting dragons against eachother, or is she setting the Tyrian races against themselves? I don’t know.

I don’t think she’s pitting dragons against each other – nothing she’s done has had anything to do with the dragons thus far. Nor do I think she’s setting the Tyrian races against each other. “The forces that push us this way or that” really just refer to predetermination – e.g., the concept of fate. Which is what the Wyld Hunts more or less are for the sylvari – and by extension, the Dark Hunts (Nightmare Court’s version of Wyld Hunts) and via both of them, the Dream and Nightmare.

Stooperdale.3560:

Did Scarlet attack Queen Jennah at the request of the Fire Legion?

It was stated in an interview with TowerTalk that she attacked the Jubilee purely out of a whim.

Blurk.6231:

Did I missread this or have you said nothing about the Twisted Nightmare creatures? Or do you mean the watchknights by these. They look like these a lot, with the watckwork theme around them. Still I would consider them as an at least as big ally as the steam creatures, as she has TONS of them.

Twisted Clockworks are just the Watchknights being redesigned – so I did mention them. The reason why I included so little is because – as I have said multiple times now – her actions during Queen’s Jubilee was purely done on a whim. Her pre-planning didn’t, couldn’t, involve the watchknights and by extention the Twisted Clockworks minions.

Blurk.6231:

On a side note, I find it interesting that they changed the appearance of these portals in terms of where the creatures are coming from.

Has the invasion ones changed? I noticed the portal that mimiced Scarlet’s in Kessex Hills with the caves event was similar but different. Hadn’t have a chance to look at the invasion events again since.

Blurk.6231:

I think you are much too less thinking about the portal tech/science here. Scarlet didn’t get the portal tech from the Aetherblades, as also the MA could make portals. Think about the portals in Wayfarer Foothills during F&F. These orange coloured portals. These apeared to have been made by the Flame Legion Shamans. So they casn make portals too. Scarlet herself is not known to make the portals with her own magic/energy, although many just assume she can do this. THIS tech, she could have gotten from the Aetherblades. I also noticed that Scarlet could float in mid-air during the Jubilee, so she probably is making these portals herself.

1. Her portals match (at least originally) the Steam creatures’ portals. So I labeled her portals as having coming from them.
2. True the Flame Legion are capable of making portals (the earliest known Flame Legion portal was the one leading to the Diessa Plateau mini-dungeon at Font of Rhand), but Scarlet doesn’t use Flame Legion portals. Her portals weren’t even used by Aetherblades except when Scarlet’s around.
3. She wasn’t floating in the Jubilee. She had an asura platform – the kind like in the yellow ones in Uncategorized, or in various asura lab jumping puzzles.

Blurk.6231:

I have never seen any of the steam creatures come from their realms portals, so the reverse engineering idea is a good one. However, during the Emissairy Vorrp field quest, we need to go to a steam device in gendarran fields, where there is also a steam portal: On this page you can see it.

Yes, I’m aware of that. I place that also as reverse engineering. Wish there was more on it but sadly there is none.

Blurk.6231:

Scarlet seems to care about them more than she does with the other alliances.

How do you get this? Because of the preview featuring twisted clockworks and concept art for the Molten Berserker and Aetherblades? True she wasn’t seen much in the Molten Alliance situation – but keep in mind that until we breached the facilities four months (even in-game time) after the attacks began, we only barely saw the footsoldiers. It’d be like comparing four months of what we currently have in-game of the Toxic Alliance. By the time we got into their facilities, Scarlet could have gotten what she needed and have been long gone.

Blurk.6231:

The flower raises the big question. Why is it there and why does she need the Krait. I am one hundred percent sure she could have pulled this off without the help of the Krait, as they don’t seem to be into intoxicating people, but more like flooding them. This is what bothers me, what is the role of the Krait in all this, apart from them being pretty smart.

I think she needed both a large source of water, defenders for the plant, and the magic of the obelisks. The obelisks are said to be like the Bloodstone shards in that they contain a good deal of magic – not made from the same material, but both are holding strong magic. They could also act as defenders as the plant grows, and that tower around it is pretty defensible.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Erukk.1408:

On top of trying to free the Sylvari from the Dream and Nightmare, I think that Scarlet might want to do something against the Pale Tree as well.

Good point but the Pale Tree is the caretaker of the Dream so one can view ridding the sylvari of the Dream and Wyld Hunts to also be doing something against the Pale Tree to make her no longer the caretaker of the Dream.

Other than trying to divorce the Pale Tree from the Dream, I was thinking more along the lines that Scarlet might actually take on the Pale Tree as a whole.

If the Dream and Nightmare are gone, Scarlet would probably see the Pale Tree as more of a threat. The Pale Tree would be the lone survivor, still the “Mother Tree”, and even with the lack of the Dream; she would still help guide the race in all things. That, to Scarlet, could be the last remaining shackle holding the Sylvari back for true freedom, as she sees it.

Though, like I said, I’m not sure how she would go about any of this. The Sylvari race as a whole are reliant on both the Dream and the Pale Tree. The Pale Tree is needed for obvious reasons, and the Dream is needed to give fundamental knowledge to all born Sylvari. Without it, they would be basically adults sized newborns.

I dunno… Scarlet may be insane, but she’s still no idiot. She’d know full well that the Pale Tree is the only source for sylvari – no Pale Tree, no sylvari.

Unless she does know about Malyck and Scarlet’s intention is to effectively do what Caithe and Trahearne feared the Nightmare Court would do (burn down the Pale Tree and “start over”).

Also, as to the Dream giving fundamental knowledge to all born sylvari – Malyck by all our accounts and knowledge had no influence with the Dream of Dreams – same or otherwise. And before the amnesia argument gets brought up: He didn’t have amnesia, that was just the player characters’ assumption based on the fact that Malyck didn’t know what the Pale Tree, Grove, and Dream of Dreams were. But despite this, Malyck has a basic understanding of the world – though how much of this is from him picking things up in the 2 weeks (?) that he was with the Wardens before the Nightmare Court attacked is anyone’s guess.

I personally think it is more likely to have a relation to the Fervid Censor than a Pale Tree seed. I personally just do not see the leafy resemblance that you do. In fact, the top of a tower looks more like a dandelion than anything else. The blossom is brother to the weed, maybe, but it just doesn’t seem quite right. I have to wonder if this isn’t building up to what we know she has an interest in, and that is freeing the sylvari. I can’t help but wonder what kind of effect these spores could have on the Pale Tree if properly applied…

Narcemus.1348:

I can’t help but wonder what kind of effect these spores could have on the Pale Tree if properly applied…

Hmm…

That could be a possible way to attack the Dream, in a sense. She might not have control over it, or understand fully, but the Pale Tree does have the power to transport people there and might hold a degree of influence there. If the Pale Tree does get infected with the spore/toxin, the hallucinations and madness might have a chance of spilling over into the Dream, or Scarlet might be seeking a way to enter the Dream, like the player did.

I’m not sure how you would infect something like the Pale Tree with the spores though. Obviously, she doesn’t have any lungs, and I’m not sure if it would effect her avatar really. If she sensed it was in any danger, she could simply dispel it.

Maybe she could try poisoning her water supply? She has the Krait after all. Or, maybe she can try to enact her hallucination/vision/whatever, and she can used the poisoned thorns of an huge magic infused coiling briar.

On a side note, I want to glare at whoever is editing the wiki atm. On the Pale Tree page, they have it written down that the Pale Tree is the creator of the Dream, and she’s the one that puts the collective knowledge and emotion of the Sylvari into it.

-.-

I had originally thought a tie to the Fervid Censor too, but the pollen’s appearance and immediate known effects are different. The Fervid Censor’s pollen is akin to the krait glow, but not the blue and black spoors. Furthermore, the Fervid Censor’s effects are irreversible – the animals are permanently berserk. Whereas the toxic spores are only effective so long as they’re in your system – the hallucinations aren’t permanent. The Fervid Censor also aggravates what it affects, making them more aggressive; the toxic spoors can be argued to do this, but indirectly via making the victim believe he/she is under attack. But the latter turns allies against each other on top of them against their enemies as well as thin air – the former (the Fervid Censor) does not by all our accounts.

Because of this, I think that the Fervid Censor may be tied to Mordremoth, while the toxic spoors/offshoots and the giant plant is not.

Not to mention this would tie Scarlet to Canach and we were told in a forum post that Canach wasn’t tied to the Molten Alliance’s mysterious benefactor whom turned out to be Scarlet by all accounts known (though there’s still a tiny-to-insignificant chance they weren’t formed by her but overtaken by her upon their defeat by the Vigil, Braham, Rox, Canach, and the PCs). And while Anet certainly go back on their words, even I still have hope that they won’t tie everything (at this point being “Zephyrites, Canach, Consortium, Tequatl, and Moto”) in the Living Story to Scarlet.

Erukk.1408:

On a side note, I want to glare at whoever is editing the wiki atm. On the Pale Tree page, they have it written down that the Pale Tree is the creator of the Dream, and she’s the one that puts the collective knowledge and emotion of the Sylvari into it.

-.-

Just checked the article’s history and it turns out that mention is pre-release information where we at the time given the implication that she was the origination of the Dream. We only found out otherwise in the third BWE demo in August 2012.

I’ll go and slap an out of date tag on the article til I or someone else can get around to fixing it.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Not to mention this would tie Scarlet to Canach and we were told in a forum post that Canach wasn’t tied to the Molten Alliance’s mysterious benefactor whom turned out to be Scarlet by all accounts known (though there’s still a tiny-to-insignificant chance they weren’t formed by her but overtaken by her upon their defeat by the Vigil, Braham, Rox, Canach, and the PCs). And while Anet certainly go back on their words, even I still have hope that they won’t tie everything (at this point being “Zephyrites, Canach, Consortium, Tequatl, and Moto”) in the Living Story to Scarlet.

That’s not necessarily true. Canach could very well have been doing this stuff on his own, outside of Scarlet’s influence. I personally doubt she would see him as a friend based on his MA attacks. But once he was removed from Southsun Cove and put into a Lionguard prison, Scarlet could very well have moved in and reaped some of the benefits of his research. We know that she has a very good understanding of the ways in which different systems integrate together, and in the very origins this was focused on the earth, not necessarily the technology that it has come to work around.

As to how the Pale Tree could become infected by the spores, I cannot be certain. My thoughts have ranged anywhere from infecting sylvari that are still in their pods, thus spreading madness within the dream by infecting those still sleeping, to somehow being able to corrupt the leaves of the Pale Tree (coating them, somehow infecting them) because of the fact that in normal trees leaves are how they breathe.

I predict that Scarlet is breeding her own version of the Pale Tree. A sort of nightmare tree. But I’m just guessing here.

On a side note, where did you guys learn that Scarlet’s goal is to destroy the Dream? I’d like to know because apparently there’s another piece of lore tucked away somewhere that’s easily missed or overlooked. I’m guessing some interview on a fansite?

My biggest gripe with the Living Story is that I have to bend over backwards to get all the lore, and still miss stuff…apparently…

In the short story they posted on the GW2 website she showed hatred for the control that the Nightmare and Dream had over the Sylvari.

“I predict that Scarlet is breeding her own version of the Pale Tree. A sort of nightmare tree. But I’m just guessing here.”

She already created her electromechanical version of the Nightmare Tree in the TA dungeon. The court wanted the Nightmare Tree to replace the Pale Tree, so it is easy to envisage Scarlet replacing the Pale tree with her mechanical nightmare trees that can create mechanical/holographic/steam soldiers for her.

That’s not what the goal of the Nightmare Tree was. The Nightmare Tree was said to be able to “amplify the darkest desires of the tree’s owner.” Obtaining the Nightmare Tree would supposedly give Fionna the power to summon and control every spider in the world, or allow Vevina to enthrall everyone to her will, and strengthen Leurent so he could march his army and conquer the world with brute force.

Narcemus.1348:

In the short story they posted on the GW2 website she showed hatred for the control that the Nightmare and Dream had over the Sylvari.

I see…I got that though. It’s a bit of speculation that freeing the Sylvari from the control is a bit speculative then, is it not? Because my impression was that she wanted to remove ‘all’ outside control, not just the Dream for Sylvari.

Then again, everything is always about the Sylvari and how great they are, so I suppose it’s a valid theory.

Regardless, thanks for the clarification.

On what Scarlet is up to, i can only asume and that`s what this thread is for if i am not wrong.

However, given what we have so far i just want to add a few things (i disregard the invasions here, since they just don`t fit in my opinion. Everything could work without them):
- Scarlet appearently invented the “computer” as we can find out in F&F. This device appearently works differently then the ones the Asura are using, so it is more mechanical like ours in the real world then magical?

- Scarlet`s Molten Alliance is actually a capable force, able to fight off two of the races which are mostly known for her combat capabilities. The Norn and the Charr.

- The Aetherblades were introduced as a hit and run group and their actions were also only hit and run.
If we regard the MA as Scarlets mainforce, the Aetherblades are infiltration units.

- Scarlet actually was actually quite smart so far. She created a strong force to fight head on and tried to getting someone inside the global politics of lions arch.
These are actually some intersting moves. She showed the capabilities of a strategist as she was setting her pieces on the bord (Dragon Bash).

- Scarlet is able to get “everywhere”? She has access to several portals, airships and drilling equipment. With the TA she is even able to go aquatic.
Right now she has created a powerfull army under her control.

(like i mention. I can`t fit the invasions into her characteristics. it is just wastefull and devalues everything set up before, if we exclude this part of her “appearence” so far, everything still fits.)

Jaken.6801:

- Scarlet`s Molten Alliance is actually a capable force, able to fight off two of the races which are mostly known for her combat capabilities. The Norn and the Charr.

This isn’t entirely true, as the Molten Alliance was able to do so much damage because they literally did blitzkrieg attacks and created so much chaos no one was able to figure out what was happening for months (even in-game time which is odd to me). Once they were figured out, the floor was wiped with them.

Same goes for all of Scarlet’s little ploys. Once she’s figured out and in the open, she’s easily beaten.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

This isn’t entirely true, as the Molten Alliance was able to do so much damage because they literally did blitzkrieg attacks and created so much chaos no one was able to figure out what was happening for months (even in-game time which is odd to me). Once they were figured out, the floor was wiped with them.

Same goes for all of Scarlet’s little ploys. Once she’s figured out and in the open, she’s easily beaten.

Hm, you are right, but like you said it was “unrealistic” given the timeframe it was going on. Even Rytlock didn`t bother with them really.
However i don`t think the intention was that profound. While i enjoy the more “crazy” and “twisted” ideas, the more simple ones might work as well (given some of the writing we received so far).
The thing is that we can`t hold the delivery of the content against the intention.

I just realized after playing todays release that Scarlet very openly mentioned Malyck. She said something about how she found our your secret about Malyck. Given that Malyck doesn’t have the dream, I think that this does very possibly have something to do with destroying the dream/nightmare. I have not read too much into the current theories regarding her master plan but I think this is a large hint.

I haven’t done the update yet so I’ll be highly interested in seeing this, and would prove that my theory from Twilight Assault is right (that the secret she mentioned Caithe and threatened to tell Faolain was Malyck).

Oddly, I’ve been predicting a lot about Scarlet’s plot… I figured it’d be a female sylvari interested in tech back when Scarlet was first mentioned by Mai Trin, and now there’s Scarlet knowing about Malyck… lol Shows how predictable she is.

Makes me wonder if the theory I presented above will turn out accurate.

Where does she mention Malyck? I didn’t get any mention of him when I did it…

And did you get that mention with a character that has met Malyck?

The first time you play through the Nightmare Chamber, and only the first time as far as I can tell, there is an unvoiced line that pops up in your chat that links back to your personal story; specifically the second arc of it, for the two characters I’ve taken through. For my sylvari, it was (slightly paraphrased) “I know Malyck’s secret too. You’re very naughty, keeping that to yourself.”

Now, rather that’s actually true or not is up in the air: throughout the chambers it’s made clear that you have no way of telling what’s actually real and what isn’t. It could well be you’re just hallucinating Scarlet’s voice. On the other hand, it’s speculated in the final instance that Scarlet has some influence on your toxin-befuddled mind- though that still would not necessarily mean she knows. It could just be that she’s able to make you think she knows something personal about you.

Even if Scarlet does know about Malyck, though, I’m still skeptical that he is Caithe’s secret, for two reasons. First, I am certain she used the word “too”, as in “in addition to, and therefore necessarily distinct from.” There is no context, but the way it’s phrased seems deliberately reminiscent of what she said to Caithe, so I am inclined to believe this line is supposed to disprove that Malyck is Caithe’s secret.

Furthermore, this release proves that they still remember which character plays through which storyline. They’ve previously shown that dungeon dialogue can also reflect personal story choices- in TA itself, Morrigu has an additional line for characters that played Shield of the Moon. Yet Caithe, who discovered Malyck alongside my ranger, still refused to discuss her secret with him, and said that she would tell him in her own time, and on her own terms. That rules out it being Malyck’s existence or the existence of his tree, although I suppose it could still possibly have to do with them- if she followed up with him, for instance, or if she discovered the tree’s location.

There’s plenty of mentions of your PS in this patch, some examples:

https://dviw3bl0enbyw.cloudfront.net/uploads/forum_attachment/file/118325/gw089.jpg

Aaron Ansari.1604:

The first time you play through the Nightmare Chamber, and only the first time as far as I can tell, there is an unvoiced line that pops up in your chat that links back to your personal story; specifically the second arc of it, for the two characters I’ve taken through. For my sylvari, it was (slightly paraphrased) “I know Malyck’s secret too. You’re very naughty, keeping that to yourself.”

I screenshotted all the conversations in the four or five times I went through the Nightmare Chambers, did not once see Malyck mentioned.

Nor, however, have I seen any link back to my personal story.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Even if Scarlet does know about Malyck, though, I’m still skeptical that he is Caithe’s secret, for two reasons. First, I am certain she used the word “too”, as in “in addition to, and therefore necessarily distinct from.” There is no context, but the way it’s phrased seems deliberately reminiscent of what she said to Caithe, so I am inclined to believe this line is supposed to disprove that Malyck is Caithe’s secret.

I disagree there. “I know Malyck’s secret too” is more like “I know Malyck’s secret as well as you/Caithe” – at least that’s how I read it as is.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Furthermore, this release proves that they still remember which character plays through which storyline. They’ve previously shown that dungeon dialogue can also reflect personal story choices- in TA itself, Morrigu has an additional line for characters that played Shield of the Moon. Yet Caithe, who discovered Malyck alongside my ranger, still refused to discuss her secret with him, and said that she would tell him in her own time, and on her own terms. That rules out it being Malyck’s existence or the existence of his tree, although I suppose it could still possibly have to do with them- if she followed up with him, for instance, or if she discovered the tree’s location.

Sometimes the LS updates acknowledge the PS, sometimes they don’t. For example, Faren didn’t react special to human nobles in Secret of Southsun or Queen Jubilee content.

Edit: Malyck, Infinity Ball, and Dead Sister all get mentions from what I’ve heard thus far. She may mention any chapter 2 PS arc. Which is sad. But it’s weird that I got no mention of my PS…

To add to that list, Honorless Gladium got a mention. “Like sire, like cub? How’s your father’s redemption coming along? Any slip-ups?”

So aside from this personal story diversion in the hallucination chambers, what did we actually learn about Scarlet in this update? She’s pulling the strings on the alliances – ok we already knew that. She promised the krait a new prophet so now one out of the 6 allies does/did have a reason to follow her. It’s still not clear what the nightmare court want but a nightmare toxin looks like a good asset for them. We still have no named enemies apart from Scarlet.

Plant+krait. And seeing as we kill it, I’m sure that’s not what she was after. I’m inclined to agree with Konig that she wanted the toxins, and also possibly knowledge that this hybridization process works. Scarlet has shown a peculiar interest in combining organisms- again as Konig has noted, she’s also made two sorts of cyborgs, and to look at it one way the dredge shamans were another combination, dredge with whatever rituals the Flame Legion uses, resulting in the magical equivalent of a cyborg. Interestingly enough, the steam creatures are also supposed to be partially organic. I wonder if her ultimate goal isn’t destruction but creation- wiping away the old to be replaced with new sorts of creatures, possibly under her control.

Speaking of the Toxic Hybrid, it’s an interesting thing. It evolves (and mentally develops) quickly, is born from a pod of sorts, and most importantly says “No, I cannot be the last of my kind!” (paraphrased but denoting that he’s the last of “his kind”).

What’s fascinating about the hybrid is:

• The evolution is similar in function and somewhat-so in design to the GW1 krait metamorphesis. GW1 observances have the metamorphosis occuring at one of two stages: upon aggro, or when near death. The thing to note is the later – as the Toxic Hybrid changes when his health gets lower, and he shows to be threatened in his dialogue (or rather, the tone of his “I will not be defeated by the likes of you!” line (again paraphrased).
• His birth is reminiscent to that of sylvari – born from a pod. And he’s plant-like. This furthers my suspicion that the giant plant is from the same kind of seed as the Pale Tree, but is twisted by Nightmare Court and krait magic (as well as being advanced by Scarlet’s technology as one can see in the upper level areas – even the Hybrid’s pod has tubes linking it directly to the heart of the plant which you inject with antitoxin).
• His development is what I would suspect of a sylvari that did not witness a Dream of Dreams experience – born with very basic rudimentary knowledge, but a fast learner. When the hybrid is born, it is crawling around and only makes animal-like noises. But once some time has passed, it begins to speak and burrows, popping back out in a more upright fashion like a proper krait.
• Lastly, the “last of my kind” line is beyond curious, but there’s too little to really guess on what it means.

My theory is that this thing isn’t so much a hybrid, as it is a creature born like sylvari and sylvan hounds – except that instead of taking the form of a human(oid) or hound, it takes that of a krait. It was born out of a mixture of Nightmare Court and krait magic, which likely influenced his form – particularly the latter, though the former may have had influence in the kind of plant it seems to take, as it is more rougher and thorny, like that of the Thorn Hounds the Nightmare Court utilize – though a slightly brighter color.

If this is so, then the reason why sylvari are born looking like humans is because there was human influence to their tree. In turn, this means that there had to have been human influence on Malyck’s tree.

I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself- this is still 100% speculation- but my thought was that the hybrid was an altered krait. It’s hard to get a good look during the fight, but looking at my screencaps most of its body doesn’t look planty, but rather the same basic texture as most krait.

I did notice during the final cut scene that Scarlet point of view on those strategic losses were in fact personal victories. As she treats every loss as a learning curve for her next plan. I have been trying to guess at what she end up learning with this scheme. Was it she wanted to know her enemies darkest deepest fears? So she would get to know them on a more intimate level. I never imagined her taking poisons or hallucinogenics seriously. Due to how she treated the Hylek’s alchemist apprenticeship she incurred on a whim. She obviously is going to integrate the technological breakthroughs she acquired with the toxic alliance. Also maybe the Hybrid was another step in her goal to see if she could create her own maleficent and blasphemous version of life.

She also has to know by now the unwanted attention she is attracting. Eventually leading to people tracking her down to her exact location. I wondering if she already planned out an end game for her opposition. Perhaps an open ended zone with all of her creations and a hidden fortress. Maybe a diabolical amusement park of Scarlet’s own design? Speaking of location I wonder if she would set up base deep in the Maguuma Jungle.

The Krait ability to morp is probably the main reason why a specimen of the species was selected for the experiment (assuming that it was an experiment). Their morphing ability suggests that they may be able to evolve at a faster rate than the other races meaning that the outcome of spore infestation is easier to observe to completion in them. The use of the chamber is intriguing in that it is probably a pressurized (and hence liquidized) form of the toxin. Again, exposure to this level of the toxin is probably designed to hasten the spread of the spore in test subjects (or something along these lines anyway). Thus, Krait may have been reared in liquidized toxin (i.e. from eggs to young).
The result appears to be the hybridization of the Krait. The test Subject may consider itself the last of it’s kind because the other Krait that we have fought were formed in the same fashion – in tanks of liquid spore. Alternatively, it may consider itself the last of it’s kind because although it is the first, it nonetheless realizes that it will never be followed by another like it. I think of the two scenarios the first is the more likely.
With regards to what the Krait have gained: Sylvari physiology does have one major benefit – immunity to Elder Dragon Corruption. The subject probably is immune now and the Krait may have found this useful following the loss of the Blue Orb. Of course, I believe at this point Zaithan is dead and the Blue Orb seems predominantly concerned with preventing his corruption from spreading within their population. However, they may nonetheless see full immunity to all Elder Dragon Corruption as their way of avoiding extinction at the hands of the Elder Dragons during this cycle.
This is mere speculation…

I think that all references to the PS are due to the toxins. Scarlet doesn’t know any of them. Which discredits nearly everything we have seen or heard in this tower and even in any places since those toxins have been spread anywhere. It even hit ice brood minions (and if I’m not mistaken, dragon corruptions doesn’t overlap, so those toxins have nothing to do with the ED).

And also, from what I gathered in game, Scarlet had that toxins without the kraits. She used it to make the NC (and probably herself) appear as the krait’s prophets, which would explain why the kraits stop everything they are doing and try to rally the NC when they are downed.
So their only use was to be test subjects. Don’t make me believe that she needed them to build the tower.

Sindex.9520:

I did notice during the final cut scene that Scarlet point of view on those strategic losses were in fact personal victories. As she treats every loss as a learning curve for her next plan.

I didn’t see it like this. I saw it like “I don’t care if it failed. It caused ruckus and I’ll be remembered for ever !”

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Now, rather that’s actually true or not is up in the air: throughout the chambers it’s made clear that you have no way of telling what’s actually real and what isn’t. It could well be you’re just hallucinating Scarlet’s voice.

Which is, incidentally, why when I sent money to Konig, Thal and therapite, I did so with a comment along the lines of "I don’t think it really classifies as “reasonable” any more, but I think there is still doubt". Namely, due to all the hallucinations, it is still vaguely possible that ArenaNet has basically been trolling us through the expectation of our characters and NPCs that Scarlet is involved. I think some of those indications are a little more in-depth than could be expected just from hallucinations (particularly the cutscene) but it is still possible that Scarlet isn’t actually involved and it was all in our character’s heads.

If so, I expect double my money back. :P

Anyway, if it turns out that she DOES know all those secrets and not just Caithe’s, it kinda invalidates their attempted backpedal that the “glimpse of the Eternal Alchemy” in What Scarlet Saw may have just been a sensory deprivation-induced hallucination.

On the mention of pods – I think it is worth reminding people here that pods are also used as a conversion mechanism by the Nightmare Court, and sylvari in general are good with breeding plants for specific purposes. The hybrid’s pod, then, doesn’t need to be any form of analogue to the Pale Tree’s sylvari birthing pods – it could just be that that’s the way the Nightmare Court incubates things.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself- this is still 100% speculation- but my thought was that the hybrid was an altered krait. It’s hard to get a good look during the fight, but looking at my screencaps most of its body doesn’t look planty, but rather the same basic texture as most krait.

I didn’t get a good constant look, but it was definitely not scalely from what I saw. All I am positive about, though, is that it uses the Oratuss’ frame for the model.

RedStar.4218:

I think that all references to the PS are due to the toxins. Scarlet doesn’t know any of them. Which discredits nearly everything we have seen or heard in this tower and even in any places since those toxins have been spread anywhere. It even hit ice brood minions (and if I’m not mistaken, dragon corruptions doesn’t overlap, so those toxins have nothing to do with the ED).

Firstly, dragon corruption can overlap – though we’ve only seen such in a controlled environment (Crucible of Eternity – Kudu’s Monster and, more noticeably, Subject Alpha). It may not overlap physically but otherwise it does.

As to the mentions by Scarlet, reasonable assumption. But I would not say it discredits everything.

1. We see Scarlet in the flesh. There is no black “mist” effect around her like hallucinations.
2. Similarly, we see Twisted Watchwork in the flesh – lacking the black effects around them.

RedStar.4218:

And also, from what I gathered in game, Scarlet had that toxins without the kraits. She used it to make the NC (and probably herself) appear as the krait’s prophets, which would explain why the kraits stop everything they are doing and try to rally the NC when they are downed.

I don’t know about the krait’s involvement with the toxins, but she certainly didn’t use them to appear as their prophets. Well, the Nightmare Court didn’t at least. And the Nightmare Court at least knew Scarlet was Scarlet. We never see krait make mention of Scarlet so it’s possible that she came to them under hallucinatory influence. However, their prophet in this was the Toxic Hybrid, not Scarlet.

RedStar.4218:

I didn’t see it like this. I saw it like “I don’t care if it failed. It caused ruckus and I’ll be remembered for ever !”

“I should tell you, by the way: I’m done here. This extravaganza couldn’t have turned out better if you’d tried. But don’t be sad. You’ll see me again. " I believe that’s the line he was referring to.

Which to me says “you may have gotten to the top of the tower, but I’ve gotten all I wanted from this place, so it doesn’t matter if you actually win, because I still did as well.”

draxynnic.3719:

Which is, incidentally, why when I sent money to Konig, Thal and therapite, I did so with a comment along the lines of "I don’t think it really classifies as “reasonable” any more, but I think there is still doubt". Namely, due to all the hallucinations, it is still vaguely possible that ArenaNet has basically been trolling us through the expectation of our characters and NPCs that Scarlet is involved. I think some of those indications are a little more in-depth than could be expected just from hallucinations (particularly the cutscene) but it is still possible that Scarlet isn’t actually involved and it was all in our character’s heads.

See above: Hallucinations – be it noticable by in-game characters (PC included) or not – have a very definitive appearance to players. And not only Scarlet (who interestingly wears her hood again outside the concept art cinematic) but the Twisted Watchwork are very much not in such an appearance – like all of the Toxic Alliance and the Toxic Hybrid.

draxynnic.3719:

On the mention of pods – I think it is worth reminding people here that pods are also used as a conversion mechanism by the Nightmare Court, and sylvari in general are good with breeding plants for specific purposes. The hybrid’s pod, then, doesn’t need to be any form of analogue to the Pale Tree’s sylvari birthing pods – it could just be that that’s the way the Nightmare Court incubates things.

And it should be noted that those “conversion pods” are more of buds. They’re literally giant flowers, placed on the ground. This is fundamentally different. Sadly, other than Malyck’s pod we don’t see what the sylvari wake from, though it’s described as fruit, not plants (It should be noted, as a slight counter-argument to this, that Malyck’s pod uses the same model as those conversion pods; however, I’m thinking this was a saving of resources rather than making something unique since, unlike any other usage of these pods, it had to be detatched).

Sadly, I cannot recall what plant that Hybrid’s pod reminds me of… never been much of a botanist. But I’m wanting to say it was some sort of seed pod from a flower-less plant…

Konig Des Todes.2086:

draxynnic.3719:

Which is, incidentally, why when I sent money to Konig, Thal and therapite, I did so with a comment along the lines of "I don’t think it really classifies as “reasonable” any more, but I think there is still doubt". Namely, due to all the hallucinations, it is still vaguely possible that ArenaNet has basically been trolling us through the expectation of our characters and NPCs that Scarlet is involved. I think some of those indications are a little more in-depth than could be expected just from hallucinations (particularly the cutscene) but it is still possible that Scarlet isn’t actually involved and it was all in our character’s heads.

See above: Hallucinations – be it noticable by in-game characters (PC included) or not – have a very definitive appearance to players. And not only Scarlet (who interestingly wears her hood again outside the concept art cinematic) but the Twisted Watchwork are very much not in such an appearance – like all of the Toxic Alliance and the Toxic Hybrid.

While that was part of what I took into account in making the call between “reasonable” and “unreasonable” doubt…

…if I was setting up something like this where the big reveal was to be that some element was just a hallucination all along, I’d include elements of that that aren’t clearly represented as hallucinations to the player, so that while the player is aware that some things are hallucinations, they’re also left without full knowledge of what was and wasn’t real. It’s particularly worth noting that the Twisted that you mention are found in an area with a particularly high concentration of hallucinogens, while Scarlet herself is found at the top of a tower where your character’s convictions that Scarlet is involved have been reinforced with waves of Scarlet-related hallucinations.

Incidentally, something else I wanted to comment on… the idea that Malyck’s appearance has been influenced by humans around his Tree. White Mantle, perhaps?

For some reason, my mind keeps going back to Logan’s battle with Rytlock and Anise. Anise is a very powerful mesmer if I remember correctly.

Before today, I never considered that Malyck had human influence. The mantle are a valid influence. Could Elona also be valid?

The storyline in question suggests that Malyck’s pod is coming from upriver, a direction we knew the White Mantle remnants had retreated to, while Elona is to the far east.

On a side note, could it be that the devs took note of our discussions regarding the Krait? We’ve had discussions in this forum regarding why the Krait no longer morph. Well perhaps their species has simply taken an evolutionary step where they can no longer do it. And maybe Scarlet found a way to revert that change. To basically reactivate the genes that allow Krait to morph.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

I don’t know about the krait’s involvement with the toxins, but she certainly didn’t use them to appear as their prophets. Well, the Nightmare Court didn’t at least. And the Nightmare Court at least knew Scarlet was Scarlet. We never see krait make mention of Scarlet so it’s possible that she came to them under hallucinatory influence. However, their prophet in this was the Toxic Hybrid, not Scarlet.

I don’t doubt the NC knew Scarlet was Scarlet.

But during the dungeon, you can hear 2 NC talking about how the kraits are under the toxins effect and think that the NC is their prophets. Even before the last fight, the krait seems to want to protect the two NC and they say something like “do you think your prophet cant’ take care of them (Us) ?”
Now maybe I heard/read wrong. Because the last boss doesn’t make sense if I didn’t. He pops out like that, with no one else around to see him, not even Scarlet. Which makes me wonder : if she wanted that creature, why no hold us out a bit longer ? She didn’t even see its abilities or even its birth.

RedStar.4218:

I think that all references to the PS are due to the toxins. Scarlet doesn’t know any of them. Which discredits nearly everything we have seen or heard in this tower and even in any places since those toxins have been spread anywhere.

I think it’s very possible that Scarlet might know some of what happened during the player’s PS. Or at least, the players that did Scarlet’s Playhouse. At the end, she made a point of telling the player(s) that they are now on top of her kitten list. I wouldn’t put it past her to go researching on the life of her new top enemies.

She did some research on the player to be able to give them her “gift” at the end of that LS. Unless of course, those in-game delivery pigeons are the equivalent of the magically homing owls of Harry Potter.

Sindex.9520:

I did notice during the final cut scene that Scarlet point of view on those strategic losses were in fact personal victories. As she treats every loss as a learning curve for her next plan.

I didn’t see it like this. I saw it like “I don’t care if it failed. It caused ruckus and I’ll be remembered for ever !”

Though Scarlet was more interested and fascinated with the College of Synergetics, her personality reminds me more of those in the College of Dynamics, the first college she entered…

" The members of this college are typically enthusiastic about their highly experimental work, spontaneously imagining potential solutions to problems no one else yet perceives. They are known for devising ingenious, highly unstable and equally unpredictable contrivances, always on the bleeding edge of asura high magitechnology. Members of the college believe that an experiment is only a failure if nothing is learned from it."

What may look like loses to us, aren’t really loses to her. We always sabotage her plans, but she always gets something out of it in the end. Whether it is: new minions, new information/knowledge, just causing chaos, or a new piece of tech to add to her growing collection.

Scarlet could be Kudu’s boss and was responsible for the attempted combinating of different dragon magics and is therefore simply testing combining different magics with different species.

Scarlet, Scarlet…

At any point in Scarlet’s illustrious career thus far, has anything happened that could have produced some sort of, for lack of a better term, ‘mind meld’ with one or more asura?

Is it possible that during the experiment in the isolation chamber, her mind became exposed to some outside influence which has since directed her activities/thoughts?

Also, as for her uncanny ability to unite the ununitable, could this be the result of a mutation, or perhaps some rarely occurring but natural sylvari ability that allows her to produce (perhaps at will, perhaps not) some sort of neurotoxin that affects the minds of her, shall we say, victims, making them open to suggestion? Something that maybe old Trahearne has a touch of, too (and being the altruistic hero type that he is, he might volunteer to be dissected so that we can learn more about it. Ahem.)

Edit: well, perhaps we shouldn’t dissect Trahearne, but he might volunteer to attempt to recreate Scarlet’s experience in an isolation chamber, just to see what he might see. Have any other sylvari done this?

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Sadly, other than Malyck’s pod we don’t see what the sylvari wake from, though it’s described as fruit, not plants.

It’s one of those things that’s easy to miss, but there is one NPC- Mender Serimon, the first NPC your sylvari character talks to, who strangely enough still lacks a wiki page- that says that blue fruit hanging just above your head in the area where you awaken are the sylvari pods.

I’m inclined to agree with Drax about the hallucinations- not that Scarlet is one, but that you can’t always tell them by the shadowy form. Braham, Rox, and the PS related prisoner in the Nightmare Chamber don’t have that effect, but there certainly is not any reason that they’d actually be there.

RedStar.4218:

But during the dungeon, you can hear 2 NC talking about how the kraits are under the toxins effect and think that the NC is their prophets. Even before the last fight, the krait seems to want to protect the two NC and they say something like “do you think your prophet cant’ take care of them (Us) ?”

He was talking about the Toxic Hybrid. The “moment of triumph” is the birth of the Toxic Hybrid. That is their prophet.

Scarlet Briar: The krait Oratussssss are expecting a visit from their god. I wore my best ribbonssss for the occasion.

This is after the NC barons are killed. And as Scarlet leaves. Why would they be their prophets if they’re dead or leaving and the krait are “expecting a visit” from said dead or leaving people? That makes no sense.

And the NC never say the krait are influence by the toxins.

RedStar.4218:

Now maybe I heard/read wrong. Because the last boss doesn’t make sense if I didn’t. He pops out like that, with no one else around to see him, not even Scarlet. Which makes me wonder : if she wanted that creature, why no hold us out a bit longer ? She didn’t even see its abilities or even its birth.

Except for, you know, all the mobs he summons and all the remaining krait in the tower. No one is around immediately because we kill them, but they’re still around in the tower. Those are the krait Oratuss that Scarlet refer to – those still alive.

Scarlet was clearly not bothering with seeing the Hybrid’s abilities first hand – implying to me that it wasn’t anything related to her true intentions.

Cataclysm.7491:

Scarlet could be Kudu’s boss and was responsible for the attempted combinating of different dragon magics and is therefore simply testing combining different magics with different species.

You do realize that Kudu was one of the – if not the – highest ranking members of the Inquest, right?

Scarlet never had the entire Inquest working for her, and she was never more than low level experimenter when she was in the Inquest.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Sadly, other than Malyck’s pod we don’t see what the sylvari wake from, though it’s described as fruit, not plants.

It’s one of those things that’s easy to miss, but there is one NPC- Mender Serimon, the first NPC your sylvari character talks to, who strangely enough still lacks a wiki page- that says that blue fruit hanging just above your head in the area where you awaken are the sylvari pods.

I’m inclined to agree with Drax about the hallucinations- not that Scarlet is one, but that you can’t always tell them by the shadowy form. Braham, Rox, and the PS related prisoner in the Nightmare Chamber don’t have that effect, but there certainly is not any reason that they’d actually be there.

While I’m inclined to disagree with that notion, because everything else we know about the fruit are that they’re golden not blue, I did look at them before posting and the thing is that they’re far from what the NC use to convert while more akin to what the Hybrid awoke from – mainly though in that it is hanging, and not on the ground.

Braham and Rox aren’t unlikely to be hallucinations. Anet had included things without properly explaining them and Braham and Rox’s presence may be among them. The PC certainly thinks they’re real and they’re certainly acting like they’re reacting to the hallucinations. Besides, when the whole continent is more or less affected by the toxins, and this is a Scarlet operation and they’ve dealt with two previous Scarlet operations, it seems likely that they’d show up.

We’re likely just missing something about them.