Guild Wars 2

We kill off the elder dragons.

Save the races of Tyria from being devoured.

Elder Dragons can no longer consume the Magic of Tyria.

We saved the races of Tyria, but did we actually save the planet of Tyria by killing the Elder Dragons?

What happens when the Magic grows too strong?

It’s possible that the increased level of magic might just lead to new dragons forming. If the dragons are a natural phenomenon it could be that elevated magic is what lead them to forming in the first place.

One question that we don’t have any answers to yet is how natural is the ED’s current state? Were they always like this or did something happen long ago that started this cycle? If so what messed up so badly in Tyria’s ancient history that lead to the ED’s becoming what they are?

We actually know very little about the EDs still. We know that locally we have 6 to worry about. We know they consume magic and release energy that corrupts things around them. From the glimpse we saw into Kralkatorik’s mind we have seen they are driven by an massive hunger.

Perhaps it is the dragon corruption itself which is the cause. We know that all ED’s release this corrupting energy. However what if the ED’s themselves are corrupted by that energy? What if the EDs ended up being very much like the minion’s they control, victims of a corrupting power that turns them into monsters?

We know that the ability to absorb magic wasn’t limited to just the EDs. Glint’s corpse was so valuable because it had absorbed magic over thousands of years. Its not beyond reason that Dragons like Glint could be the answer to how Tyria could handle magical build up without the EDs around.

In short: we have NO clue. At all.

Magical disasters can occur, perhaps. Maybe everyone gains magical longevity, living for thousands of years leading to overpopulation. Maybe it will mean the end of hunger, strife, and conflict and Tyria will reach utopia. Maybe an Elder Dragon may form – depending on some theories of their origins and nature. Or maybe nothing, maybe there’s a ceiling of “it cannot grow any longer” and the Elder Dragons were never needed to “balance” it.

It is an interesting thought that maybe we are doing the opposite of good by killing the Elder Dragons.

Yes we are removing an immediate threat to the races of Tyria, but we may be putting the planet of Tyria in danger over the long haul.

Or maybe an abundance of magic allows us to ascend to godhood.

I personally think we’ll keep growing magical until we rival the magical strength and knowledge of the Elder Races…

…then we’ll destroy everything is a huge technomagical war of epic proportions.

Erukk.1408:

I personally think we’ll keep growing magical until we rival the magical strength and knowledge of the Elder Races…

…then we’ll destroy everything is a huge technomagical war of epic proportions.

So what you’re saying is, kill the Asura while there’s still time? I’m down with that, never trusted the little guys and their technomagic mumbo jumbo.

Who said that magic grows?
I’d be more inclined to believe that magic has a constant amount throughout Tyria and that the dragons wake, consume all of it – so it then becomes part of them – and then while they sleep it seeps back into the world. That way if they were destroyed Tyria would have the exact same amount of magic that it has always had, it would just be in the world rather than in the dragons.
The idea that magic can grow seems really weird, I think a persons power or magical prowess can grow – but that is generating more magic, it’s just drawing more to them and away from the aether or w/e you want to call it.

FlamingFoxx.1305:

Who said that magic grows?
I’d be more inclined to believe that magic has a constant amount throughout Tyria and that the dragons wake, consume all of it – so it then becomes part of them – and then while they sleep it seeps back into the world. That way if they were destroyed Tyria would have the exact same amount of magic that it has always had, it would just be in the world rather than in the dragons.
The idea that magic can grow seems really weird, I think a persons power or magical prowess can grow – but that is generating more magic, it’s just drawing more to them and away from the aether or w/e you want to call it.

True, but the wiki states:

Magic permeates the world, infusing every creature within Tyria with its power.

I would assume that with every new birth of a creature, the magic is growing? So part of the Elder Dragon’s job is also population control.

Or does that mean each creature draws from a max amount of magic….and with too many creatures on Tyria the magic is spread so thin that there would be no magic at all?

Keep in mind that the wiki is fan made and – except when quoting NPCs or being a copied short story/blog post – is seldom ever using verbatim wording of what’s in-game or said by the developers.

That line itself stems from a combination of the ley lines as well as Oola’s mention that: “We are all a part of the Eternal Alchemy, and as such, our very beings embody magic. Remember this, and all you do will be enhanced — from your accuracy with a bow to the power you put behind a fireball.” http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Oola

As well as Angel McCoy’s interview in which she stated: “Magic is the lifeblood of Tyria. The entire world is infused with it, and it flows through everything via ley lines that criss-cross the planet.” and “All creatures in Tyria have a natural ability to access and use magic. It is EXTREMELY rare that a person is born who does not have access to magic, and current theory implies this happens only when magic is at its lowest point in the world—after the dragons have been awake and consuming it for some time.” http://esprits-dorr.fr/node/261

Which is extremely vague and has nothing to do with the level of magic in the world in its statement.

It is, in fact, far more likely that the magic of the world moves into the individuals, rather than increasing with the individual.

We have no indication or reason to believe that the usage of magic – and in turn, higher numbers of people in a magic-full world – alters the level of magic in the world or area.