Guild Wars 2

I had a realization today, do Tyrians have a different view on death from us in real life?

The reason I ask this, is there are many concepts of the afterlife in religions, philosophies, etc, but none are definitive. You can’t physically fly to heaven in a plane, or walk through some door and magically be in hell.

But the mists are unique to Tyria, in that you can actually physically go there, interact with it, even conduct scientific experiments on it (Fractals). So I was wondering if there’s a different mindset in Tyria about death, whether it’s viewed as the same, or more like it’s just another phase in life, etc. Does it vary from race to race, or is there one general belief across all the races?

Any specific examples/references would be great. Thank you.

SkullMuffinz.2136:

But the mists are unique to Tyria, in that you can actually physically go there, interact with it, even conduct scientific experiments on it (Fractals).

I want to start with this, because it’s not as routine as that makes it sound. The Fractals are the result of a once-in-a-thousand-years lab accident, and it’s still not very well understood what they are, let alone how to replicate the mistake that caused them in the first place. Beyond that, all known passages to the Mists, without dying, required either some degree of divine intervention (WvW seem to still fall under that, and likely sPvP as well) or the sacrifice of a large number of souls by a powerful mage specifically studied in such things.

So, all that said- Tyrians don’t know as much about the afterlife as you might think. The humans seem to have a grip on the general nature of the various realms their gods see their spirits to after death, but little beyond that, and I suspect no actual word from those places has been had in the roughly two and a half centuries since the gods went silent. Human beliefs might be a bit out of date.

The norn probably have a little better time of it- their havrouns, through the blessings of the Spirits, can enter the Mists at will- but beyond vague references to the spirit world or Hall of Spirits (which may or may not be the same as the Hall of Heroes), and that they think a spirit lives on only so long as it is remembered, we players have heard nothing of their beliefs. The asura seem to treat the dead as if they’re just recycled back into the Eternal Alchemy after death. I haven’t heard any charr beliefs on an afterlife; it may be that their cultural rejection of religion prohibits such belief, but that’s just conjecture on my part. The sylvari, new as they are, haven’t figured out what they believe- some have a vague notion that some part of them returns to the Dream upon death, but it’s essentially wishful thinking.

Now, as for the other part you kind of touch on- being dead is very different from being alive. Many have trouble coping with the fact that they died, and spirits also seem to have comparatively high rates of not only amnesia but also insanity . They can no longer feel phsical sensations, the few realms of the dead we visit are invariably bleak (although it is a biased sample) and that not even counting the ghosts that are trapped by unfinished business, or a curse, or the inability to move past the moment of their death, or simply being stuck in some supernatural creature’s belly. Or a box. And then there’s the ritualist, an entire profession who, among other things, routinely summoned the spirits of the dead and bound them to their service (depending on what’s going on in Cantha, that practice may continue to this day).

While we don’t know for sure if and if than how they imagine an afterlife, the Charr still remember their dead like how they erect statues for strong fallen leaders.
As a war-centered society, death by violence is for sure an important part of their life and so I’m sure they have some kind of rites to remember their dead comrades even if they are not especially religious.

Thank you for all of this great information!

I guess I just thought of the mists as being as easily accessible as it is in game, but that thinking was not correct. Thanks for clearing that up!

While Aaron is largely on the mark, I think he has overstated the level of ignorance:

First, while the Fractals were a lab accident, the Mist War is canon (although it’s probably not canon that the enemies in the Mist War are alternate Tyrias). Navigation is still easier said than done, but actually getting into the Mists now seems to be fairly straightforward.

Second, priests of Grenth have retained the ability to call spirits from the afterlife (Speaker of the Dead), although it’s difficult, dangerous, and not used trivially. However, it does mean that it’s possible that when more cooperative spirits are called, the caller might be able to get some news of the afterlife (and, theoretically, from the various means of having access to spirits that had gone into the Mists in GW1’s time). At the very least, while Grenth may no longer be personally supervising the (human) afterlife, such rituals still seem to be pointing to the same place.

I’m also inclined to say that there is selection bias among the realms of the dead we’ve visited. The Hall of Heroes isn’t particularly bleak, although it isn’t exactly green with vegetation either. The other realms of the dead we’ve visited are all ones that have some sort of problem for us to deal with. There is, however, mention of an Eternal Paradise in Canthan belief, which seems as if it might be Dwayna’s domain (the Canthans believed that good souls went to Dwayna, while Grenth only kept those who were unworthy of such an honour) – this is possibly a simplistic view, but it is likely that the realms of Dwayna, Melandru and Lyssa are a little more… vibrant.

Good catch, drax. I forgot about Speaker of the Dead.

That said, I’m not sure the Mist War’s all that helpful. The original story was that it was a portal Balthazar opened, and while that has been… muddled… there was still dialogue up to LA’s destruction saying that the asura found the portals, not made them, and can’t control where they go. Access to those particular islands seems to be fairly easy now, yes, but it’s not an understood phenomenon, and going from the islands to the afterlives (without dying) still seems impossible.

True enough. I think lorewise it IS possible to travel freely through the Mists (with an airship, at least…) – but as is said after Rytlock’s disappearance, the Mists are vast. Getting to a specific location without some sort of guide or other navigational aid seems to be pretty much impossible.

Unless you’re Lord Odran, but he seems to have spent a lifetime on his project, and it’s possible that half of his magic expenditure was about learning where to direct the portals as much as learning how to open them.

Just wanted to point out that Mai Trin and her crew of Aetherblades also found shelter in the Mists.
The Tengu believe in a Sky Above the Sky, which sounds very similar to our understanding/assumption of Heaven. Also highly speculated to be Dwayna’s Realm.
Personally, I’ve always seen the Mists like the Spirit World from AtLoK/AtLA, where spirits of dead people are and are ageless, and people can also physically access too. Sometimes, the Spirits leak in the “Real World” when something makes them angry, disturbs their environment or when a portal is left open.
It’s my understanding of it, so I’m pretty sure it’s not a perfect analogy but that’s how i see if