Guild Wars 2

Ok, I managed to get in EotM for 4 minutes and was able to get the next task in the Story Line, which pointed me back to The Dead End Inn where now there were completely NEW interactions. Below I am summarizing my experience for all those that are eager to learn more of Scarlet’s story and motives. The second part of the instance is absolutely amazing and I consider it by far the best thing ANet have done storywise so far with the Living Story.

READ ONLY IF YOU ARE OK WITH MAJOR SPOILERS!

I haven’t read that because I don’t want to spoil it for myself – But thanks a lot Sierra, it’s really helpful to have someone provide that information for all the people who aren’t able to get in and want to know!

I know I was really, really lucky to be able to get into the second part of the instance. My only regret is that I didn’t write down everything more thoroughly.

However, I do agree that most of you shouldn’t read it. It will spoil what will be an amazing experience, imo.

i spent like 15 minutes faffing about in the edge of the mists. i wanted the crowd to dissipate before talking to braham and taimi.

then i got kicked, and the map has been off limits ever since >.>

i did get to listen to taimi claiming that scarlet IS in fact looking for leylines with those thumpers though. i didn’t get the full dialogue, but she was explaining them in leyman terms to braham.

There was a new code in the journal!? kitten , I missed that.

One thing to add, though, that we haven’t been totally clear on yet:

JayMack…
Sounds like she's in denial to me there, not that she's "certain" about it. Sounds like the thing is manipulating her, making her think that what she wants... is the same thing as what it wants. If that makes any sense.

To JayMack & Konig Des Todes:

GOD kitten IT. i wanna join the fun too T_T

Okay, after an eternity (/username-pun) of trying I finally got in and screenshot all the dialogue of Taimi.
It’s a fair share of new information about her!
I’m going to screenshot the next instance and upload it to Imgur and then edit my post with it so others can participate in the theorycrafting.

Edit 1: Im gonna cancel and retry the instance to see for all possible dialogues. There’s a WHOLE lot to screenshot and it’s a one-time instance it seems.
It will take me a while so I’ll prolly make a new post here. P:

I have to admit, I read all the spoilers you guys wrote basically because I barely ever play the living story. Does anyone know if the new updates build upon the previous update? Like do I need to have played the Marionette fight to unlock this new one? What I read intrigued me to getting back to playing the living story now honestly.

You shouldn’t have to. They never did that before. If you failed to participate in the current, then you just join in at the beginning of the next one like everyone else.

There will be NPCs making references now and again to whether or not you were with them at xyz points in the past, but beyond that there’s no real known difference.

I wonder if Ceara’s exposure to the chaos magic released at the Thaumanova reactor has anything to do with this? Was she exposed at that time to an entity like a “chaos beast”?

Alternatively, could be be ore to Omadd than we realize?

For everyone who can’t access the Edge of the Mists-map,

Here’s the dialogue on Imgur.

I’m still working on the instance with Kasmeer and Marjory for safe-keeping until it’s on the wiki, quick reference and those that can’t get on GW2 during this LS, it’s 200 screenshots (****) so putting that together will take a few hours.

Hey, does anyone remember the novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde”? I wonder if it is an appropriate allegory for this story-arc? Maybe Ceara has (or is) transforming into something else as a result of exposure to chaos magic and/or the toxin she developed? Maybe she uses the toxin on herself?

Neat finds, everyone! Thanks for all your hard work cataloguing this for the future.

Just one question. Is the story instance in the Dead End once per character or once per account? I’m hoping it’s the former, with slight variations on dialogue depending on your character (loved that in the Origins of Madness story instance).

I did the investigation part on my human but was wondering if there’s any changes in dialogue for the steam creature evidence on an asura character that's done the infinity ball plotline.

Sadly it seems the instance is a one time event.

I was extremely disappointed by the Dead End investigation actually because most of the implausible stuff Scarlet has done was just skirted over and remains just something a nemesis can do. Plot holes remain. The interesting stuff that might interest lore people would be :
- Vorpp doesn't know the origins of the steam creatures but you can deduce that the makers of the watchknight copied some of their mechanics. This somehow lets Scarlet use them interchangeably. - Vorpp suggests that Omadd's experiment was a mind isolation chamber rather than a mind expanding chamber so her communication with the entity comes from within herself. There was an extra hint that this was likely to be through the Dream of Dreams. I suppose the deduction is that the entity giving her whispers from the forest is indeed the jungle dragon and it can cause nightmare through the dream.

ElysianEternity.6215:

For everyone who can’t access the Edge of the Mists-map,

Here’s the dialogue on Imgur.

I’m still working on the instance with Kasmeer and Marjory for safe-keeping until it’s on the wiki, quick reference and those that can’t get on GW2 during this LS, it’s 200 screenshots (****) so putting that together will take a few hours.

tyvm for this. I won’t get back to my good computer until Feb 10th. So I’m stuck with terrible comp and lag until then.

Yeah, it’s one time which really sucks. It’s a huge exposition dump, comprehending everything that happened in there is no small task and wrapping your head around all of the details in one go through would require a powerful mind. I suggest you prepare to take screen shots. According to another thread, if you are a Priory member you get slightly altered dialogue, but I suspect the core of it is the same. I’m really starting to regret making my main a Vigil member. Priory and Order of Whispers especially get all the unique dialogue.

Stephen.6312:

I wonder if Ceara’s exposure to the chaos magic released at the Thaumanova reactor has anything to do with this? Was she exposed at that time to an entity like a “chaos beast”?

Alternatively, could be be ore to Omadd than we realize?

She was Scarlet during Thaumanova wasn’t she?

moomooo.9357:

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There’s one quote by Vorp when reviewing the evidence of Omadd’s device. That is, the only things that go in are brought in, nothing exists inside that device. So the voices/the entity/presence was brought in by Scarlet herself. Vorp theorized that she encountered a dark side of her psyche. This works against the “Mordremoth is controlling her” theories to an extent, unless the argument is that Mordy was already a part of her psyche. However, it still doesn’t fully discount dragons being involved. Even if she’s gone insane and it’s an alter ego, her end goal still may very well have something to do with dragons. Particularly now that they’ve clarified that it’s the leylines under LA that she’s interested in.

EDIT: Also were those new diary entries? They seemed the same to me. I liked how they added dates so the forumers could squelch that argument hehe

The difference if you are Priory is minor – basically you tell Marjory to name drop to speed the Priory up in giving everything to her – and then you find out that Marjory is a valued member of the Priory anyway >.>

Hmm… Has anyone done the story instance as a Whispers member then? Curious if they get any unique dialogue too.

I have. Didn’t get anything that acknowledged my order.

I think the Priory dialogue is only there because it would be weird for the player character to NOT mention that they were a high ranking member of the priory.

Actually I find it kind of interesting that with Scarlet’s seeming obsession with learning from the greatest teachers in Tyria she’s never joined the orders >.>

FlamingFoxx.1305:

I think the Priory dialogue is only there because it would be weird for the player character to NOT mention that they were a high ranking member of the priory.

Actually I find it kind of interesting that with Scarlet’s seeming obsession with learning from the greatest teachers in Tyria she’s never joined the orders >.>

She’s obsessed with learning, but only as a means to the ends of her own autonomy. That’s always been her true obsession, and all three orders have a firm chain of command.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

I have. Didn’t get anything that acknowledged my order.

Bleh. Guess I’ll be doing the story instance on my Priory Elementalist then.

Phew. Took me a while but here is all the dialogue of the LS instance A Study in Scarlet on Imgur.

Merry theorycrafting. ;P

I’ll post my own thoughts later.

ElysianEternity.6215:

Phew. Took me a while but here is all the dialogue of the LS instance A Study in Scarlet on Imgur.

Merry theorycrafting. ;P

I’ll post my own thoughts later.

That’s awesome! Thanks!

So in light of the now even more blatant fact that Ceara is being manipulated by something bigger, and the hint long ago that the nemesis would be someone/something we know, any ideas about what/who is actually controlling her?

It seems unlikely to be the Jungle Dragon really, considering she’s having ‘conversations’ with “it” on a seemingly equal level. Furthermore, we don’t really know that dragon.

I’ve seen Glint’s baby as an option, but I consider that one linked to the Zephyrites and something to come into play in a later story.

With the new link to the mists, and Scarlet’s apparent fetish for anything related to time, I’m putting my money on Lord Odran. He was a powerful arcanist who specialized in the study of temporal distortions, after all.

It’s Lazarus the Dire! At long last, the Mursaat are coming back!

Although… What would he want with the magical ley lines underneath Lion’s Arch?

I wouldn’t think Lord Odran of Lazarus are possibilities.
I’m pretty sure the whole – someone you know- was intended to mean someone our CHARACTER knows. a GW1 villain/character doesn’t fit that at all.

(Also Odran was killed by the souls in the hall of heroes or underworld or something like that.)

Zaxares.5419:

It’s Lazarus the Dire! At long last, the Mursaat are coming back!

Although… What would he want with the magical ley lines underneath Lion’s Arch?

Create a magical chain reaction to wipe a symbol of unity of the hated “lesser races” (in his view) from the face of Tyria. Mursaat hate all kinds of interspecies cooperation after all.

So, who would our character know that wields such power and yet does not have any significant role in the personal story?

I hate to put down this line of thought in it’s infancy, but the quote you are remembering was this: “Aside from the Living Story main characters, we’ll also be surprising you with interesting villains, one of whom will become your personal nemesis. Again, no spoilers allowed, so I can’t tell you more than that, but you’ll recognize this sassy character when you see…um, him/her/it.”

That doesn’t mean “that’s someone we know”; that means “that’s someone we can pigeonhole as the teased personal nemesis”.

Of course, beyond that aborted attempt right after Clockwork Chaos, the writers haven’t done much to make Scarlet personal…

The source: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/living-story-evolution/

I suppose the distinction between recognising that they’re the personal nemesis and recognising them from a previous point in time isn’t all that clear. So yeah I guess you’re right Aaron – I kind of wish they had been clearer with their word choice because when using the word recognise in relation to a person the predominant meaning is to be identifying them having known or seen them previously.

I guess they were going for the whole ’you’ll recognise it when you see it’ kind of statement – but that isn’t really supposed to apply to people.

I have also been thinking on the “personal nemesis” for some time- Scarlet has never struck me as very personal since she is more an agent of mass destruction- we also have no prior knowledge of her.
Saying that we can “pigeonhole” her into a nemesis role doesn’t wash for me simply because of the fact that it is not personal for her.

The only personal grudge she seems to have is with whatever is in her head.
I am extremely curious to know what it is.

I am more curious than ever to see if the promised personal nemesis will show up

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not expecting someone to step out of the woodwork and actually matter to my character… but if they did, I would not complain.

Exosferatu.2961:

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What does Ceara want unearthed underneath Lion’s Arch?

All in all I’m getting more convinced that we are dealing with a case of “Alter Ego” in here. It’s been hinted all around. The question remains however whether the second ego “Scarlet” is actually controlled/influenced by something/someone else. Gollum/Smeagol anyone?

I think that few sentences from the LW instance need to be mentioned here:

So Scarlet wanted to weaken defenses of the Lions Arch by putting some puppet in the council. Everyone thinks that Mai Trin was going to be that puppet. She was arrested, yet she escaped (important prisoner closed in the cage with easy access to it? whose decision was that?). What if Mai Trin was a scapegoat, to put Ellen Kiel on the seat?

So Lion’s Arch is not prepared, even if they know about Scarlet’s plans of attacking the city. Ellen Kiel is not taking any actions even after telling her, that the probe under LA have turned green. Also Marjory sends a player letter after completing instance, that Lion’s Arch is not preparing for the defense (Ellen Kiel tells her, that it’s the whole council’s decision, not her, but did she talked with the council about it?).

yayuuu.9420:

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So Scarlet wanted to weaken defenses of the Lions Arch by putting some puppet in the council. Everyone thinks that Mai Trin was going to be that puppet. She was arrested, yet she escaped (important prisoner closed in the cage with easy access to it? whose decision was that?). What if Mai Trin was a scapegoat, to put Ellen Kiel on the seat?

But like I said, I don’t think it’s likely. It is heavily implied that Scarlet was simply there right before the accident. So she would have already known all this.

yayuuu.9420:

I think that few sentences from the LW instance need to be mentioned here:

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- Lion’s Arch needs softening up first, so we infiltrate its halls of power and neuter its defenses from the inside
/Scarlet’s Hologram/

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- With Trin in place on the council, she could have weakened the city’s defenses from the inside. That plan backfired, but Trin escaped to the Mists to prepare for something.
/Marjory Delaqua/

So Scarlet wanted to weaken defenses of the Lions Arch by putting some puppet in the council. Everyone thinks that Mai Trin was going to be that puppet. She was arrested, yet she escaped (important prisoner closed in the cage with easy access to it? whose decision was that?). What if Mai Trin was a scapegoat, to put Ellen Kiel on the seat?

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- Now she has an kitten nal of advanced weapons and an air fleet to deliver them. No city is prepared to defend against an aerial attack. Not even Lion’s Arch.
/Kasmeer Meade/

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- Kiel’s been pushing to build up the air defenses around Lion’s Arch, but the rest of the Captain’s Council won’t get on board. They say Scarlet isn’t their problem – that she wouldn’t strike the Arch again so soon after Dragon Bash, or that they’ve already withstood one of her attacks and don’t need additional resources to withstand another.
/Marjory Delaqua/

So Lion’s Arch is not prepared, even if they know about Scarlet’s plans of attacking the city. Ellen Kiel is not taking any actions even after telling her, that the probe under LA have turned green. Also Marjory sends a player letter after completing instance, that Lion’s Arch is not preparing for the defense (Ellen Kiel tells her, that it’s the whole council’s decision, not her, but did she talked with the council about it?).

Um… you’ve actually got that backwards. Kiel is doing everything she can, by her own word. It’s the rest of the Council that won’t lift a finger.

Unless of course you think Kiel is lying, in which case all I can do is facepalm and wait for the coming patches to lay that conspiracy theory to rest for good and all.

That was a very revealing instance.

Its so hard to guess where this is going but its certainly getting interesting. Hopefully in the second season they will give us more to speculate on before the end cause this is actually getting good.

Here’s my speculation.
Shiro is controlling Scarlet and once we deal with her Shiro will return for the third time riding Kuunavang. Then Arena Net will reveal that all this time they’ve been secretly working on Cantha expansion and that it’s going to be released this summer.

Nick.6972:

Here’s my speculation.
Shiro is controlling Scarlet and once we deal with her Shiro will return for the third time riding Kuunavang. Then Arena Net will reveal that all this time they’ve been secretly working on Cantha expansion and that it’s going to be released this summer.

Please no… I want Cantha to remain a beautiful, empyrean mystery. Sacrificing it on this writing’s altar just to make our wishes come true – only to be severely disappointed in the end – would be sacrilegious.

Here’s something that’s been bothering me- all that evidence, all of our conclusions, say that Scarlet has been preparing a strike against Lion’s Arch since Dragon Bash at the latest. But the tools she’s used to find the ley lines weren’t in place until Fractured, and if our character is right, didn’t find the ley lines under LA until just now. That means that the ley line can’t be why she’s attacking LA- but again, if our character is right, and everything is connected, they’ll still play into the attack. So the question of the day is: How could she use ley lines in an assault on Lion’s Arch? I have my own thought, but I’d like to see what you all think.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Here’s something that’s been bothering me- all that evidence, all of our conclusions, say that Scarlet has been preparing a strike against Lion’s Arch since Dragon Bash at the latest. But the tools she’s used to find the ley lines weren’t in place until Fractured, and if our character is right, didn’t find the ley lines under LA until just now. That means that the ley line can’t be why she’s attacking LA- but again, if our character is right, and everything is connected, they’ll still play into the attack. So the question of the day is: How could she use ley lines in an assault on Lion’s Arch? I have my own thought, but I’d like to see what you all think.

Maaaaybe she wants to use them as a lure to draw something out and then use the massive force she has created to battle it or maybe take control of it and add it to the said force?