Guild Wars 2

There was a new GS skin added with this interesting name. Well I wouldn’t expect it to be a coincidence. Menzies is Balthazar’s half-brother and an enemy. Perhaps he was the one who weakened Balthazar so significantly that he needed to return to Tyria? Any thoughts?

It’s definitely possible. However, there’s been a Menzies weapon (Fate of Menzies torch) in the game since launch, so this new one could just be yet another just using the name for nostalgia. I’m hoping it’s actually going to lead to something, though. FoW hype.

RoseofGilead.8907:

It’s definitely possible. However, there’s been a Menzies weapon (Fate of Menzies torch) in the game since launch, so this new one could just be yet another just using the name for nostalgia. I’m hoping it’s actually going to lead to something, though. FoW hype.

While I agree that just a general menzies mention doesn’t mean much, the timing is a bit too convenient

OMG! It wasn’t Balthazar after all?! Now, that would be an exciting twist (although I still despise the mix of divine powers and technology).

Edit: Hrhr, they probably released the skin prematurely so that people (including myself) would stop kittening about the poor plot of episode 5.

Could be a tie-in clue but if it is i’d be curious as to why they introduced it so soon and/or how it correlates to the other gods who may be in the same situation.

TempestMoon.5403:

i’d be curious as to why they introduced it so soon

See my previous comment (“Edit”).

If Out-Of-Character-Balthazar turned out to actually be Menzies who just ran with people mistaking him for Balthazar, it’d go a very long way towards redeeming the last episode. That much is certain.

Ashantara.8731:

TempestMoon.5403:

i’d be curious as to why they introduced it so soon

See my previous comment (“Edit”).

If that’s the case then none of us should be holding our breath for anything special in the next episode. ANet has a history of not easily caving to the fanbase if at all. At this point ANet would have to be confident that they can ride out the storm and the season finale will be great and connect the dots to make ‘Flashpoint’ more sensible or that those who felt slighted enough to walk away can be won back with the expansion. I’m fairly confident the skin has no connection to the story but I won’t rule out the possibility. What does seem reasonable is that they did this intentionally to generate this exact kind of discussion and we all just fell in their trap.

Ashantara.8731:

I still despise the mix of divine powers and technology

Agree 110%. Gods don’t/shouldn’t need technology to get stuff done. It undermines the value and meaning of divinity.

I just hope she’s not behind a Raid or Legendary.

….

MeroeTheLamia.2384:

If Out-Of-Character-Balthazar turned out to actually be Menzies who just ran with people mistaking him for Balthazar, it’d go a very long way towards redeeming the last episode. That much is certain.

Excessive plot-twist, is contraindicated and amateurish. I think there are enough stories of “this was not what it looked like, it was something else”.

ugrakarma.9416:

I just hope she’s not behind a Raid or Legendary.

….

MeroeTheLamia.2384:

If Out-Of-Character-Balthazar turned out to actually be Menzies who just ran with people mistaking him for Balthazar, it’d go a very long way towards redeeming the last episode. That much is certain.

Excessive plot-twist, is contraindicated and amateurish. I think there are enough stories of “this was not what it looked like, it was something else”.

Its miles better than “Balthazar is now lolevil and the next big bad and has forgotten all the stuff he was about and now acts like a backstabbing sneak instead of a god of war!”, but that is just me.

MeroeTheLamia.2384:

ugrakarma.9416:

I just hope she’s not behind a Raid or Legendary.

….

MeroeTheLamia.2384:

If Out-Of-Character-Balthazar turned out to actually be Menzies who just ran with people mistaking him for Balthazar, it’d go a very long way towards redeeming the last episode. That much is certain.

Excessive plot-twist, is contraindicated and amateurish. I think there are enough stories of “this was not what it looked like, it was something else”.

Its miles better than “Balthazar is now lolevil and the next big bad and has forgotten all the stuff he was about and now acts like a backstabbing sneak instead of a god of war!”, but that is just me.

See that is the argumentation i hear all the time from people who say Balthazar’s reveal was bad.
You realize that Balthazar never was the loving Godfather of the Six, do you?
He always kinda had a heaty, unstable temper.
Something we don’t know just pushed him one step further into cruelty.
We don’t know what, might be anything at this point.
Personally i believe he lost the war to menzies, is about to lose it, or realized Menzies is just as powerful or even more so than him, which makes him take it a few steps too far.
It is far too early to call his actions Out-of-Character, because we don’t know that much about Balthazar to even make that claim.

MeroeTheLamia.2384:

ugrakarma.9416:

I just hope she’s not behind a Raid or Legendary.

….

MeroeTheLamia.2384:

If Out-Of-Character-Balthazar turned out to actually be Menzies who just ran with people mistaking him for Balthazar, it’d go a very long way towards redeeming the last episode. That much is certain.

Excessive plot-twist, is contraindicated and amateurish. I think there are enough stories of “this was not what it looked like, it was something else”.

Its miles better than “Balthazar is now lolevil and the next big bad and has forgotten all the stuff he was about and now acts like a backstabbing sneak instead of a god of war!”, but that is just me.

Completely agree. Menzies being who we actually fought would be much better than it actually being Balthazar which was lame.

MeroeTheLamia.2384:

If Out-Of-Character-Balthazar turned out to actually be Menzies who just ran with people mistaking him for Balthazar, it’d go a very long way towards redeeming the last episode. That much is certain.

Unless it was actually Lazarus all along, pretending to be Menzies pretending to be Balthazar pretending to be Lazarus.

But wait… at the end Lazarus pulls of his mask and it’s actually Mr Rogers.

;p

Unfortunately guys, balthazar never corrects us if we are mistaken and he summons his two dogs. Menzies is not balthazar but the idea they are putting lore stuff into gemstore before even introducing it into the game rubs me the wrong way.

Guys, I have no idea where do you get the idea that Balthazar is Menzies now. What I was thinking about is that the state that Balthazar is in (he’s weak) is Menzies’s fault, because they basically were at war in GW1 and we have no idea what happened since then. Perhaps Menzies took Balthazar’s divinity or something. For sure there is no more disguise thing going on. So my idea so far: Menzies won the war and weakened Balthazar and now is close to godhood. Menzies is evil so Lyssa helped Balthazar to get away by giving him the enchanted mirror. These are just my ideas though.

Vesuvius.9874:

Ashantara.8731:

I still despise the mix of divine powers and technology

Agree 110%. Gods don’t/shouldn’t need technology to get stuff done. It undermines the value and meaning of divinity.

Except the human gods aren’t divine, they are aliens from another planet. Therefore using technology isn’t a problem.

Dominik.5162:

MeroeTheLamia.2384:

ugrakarma.9416:

I just hope she’s not behind a Raid or Legendary.

….

MeroeTheLamia.2384:

If Out-Of-Character-Balthazar turned out to actually be Menzies who just ran with people mistaking him for Balthazar, it’d go a very long way towards redeeming the last episode. That much is certain.

Excessive plot-twist, is contraindicated and amateurish. I think there are enough stories of “this was not what it looked like, it was something else”.

Its miles better than “Balthazar is now lolevil and the next big bad and has forgotten all the stuff he was about and now acts like a backstabbing sneak instead of a god of war!”, but that is just me.

See that is the argumentation i hear all the time from people who say Balthazar’s reveal was bad.
You realize that Balthazar never was the loving Godfather of the Six, do you?
He always kinda had a heaty, unstable temper.
Something we don’t know just pushed him one step further into cruelty.
We don’t know what, might be anything at this point.
Personally i believe he lost the war to menzies, is about to lose it, or realized Menzies is just as powerful or even more so than him, which makes him take it a few steps too far.
It is far too early to call his actions Out-of-Character, because we don’t know that much about Balthazar to even make that claim.

I don’t recall claiming he was some loving godfather. He’s the god of war after all, but he’s not an Ares kind of god of war. Balthazar, going by whats stated of him in the wikis, his own zaishen, his association with honour, his association with valour and the games, is more an Athena. In ep5 he shows up and suddenly he’s gone all DC’s version of Ares of “Kitten everybody, don’t care about honour, kitten honour, don’t care about anything, I want MOAR POWAH NAO NAO NAO NAO NAO NAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”. So yeah I am calling this out of character for Balthazar. If you disagree thats fine, but its now how I see it. Nor am I interested in the five gods being villains(Kormir can go and jump into the abyss).

Especially so since ANet won’t even address the massive impact something like this would have on human society to begin with.

DarcShriek.5829:

Vesuvius.9874:

Ashantara.8731:

I still despise the mix of divine powers and technology

Agree 110%. Gods don’t/shouldn’t need technology to get stuff done. It undermines the value and meaning of divinity.

Except the human gods aren’t divine, they are aliens from another planet. Therefore using technology isn’t a problem.

Where did you get that idea? Just because their avatars walked the earth doesn’t make them flesh and blood.

Also, aren’t most deities “alien” by concept?

Ashantara.8731:

DarcShriek.5829:

Vesuvius.9874:

Ashantara.8731:

I still despise the mix of divine powers and technology

Agree 110%. Gods don’t/shouldn’t need technology to get stuff done. It undermines the value and meaning of divinity.

Except the human gods aren’t divine, they are aliens from another planet. Therefore using technology isn’t a problem.

Where did you get that idea? Just because their avatars walked the earth doesn’t make them flesh and blood.

Also, aren’t most deities “alien” by concept?

Exactly! Furthermore, their abilities and kind of magic they hold is shown to have unique properties that make it divine (such as repelling minions of Elder Dragons).

If it is Menzies then the crazy actions of Balthazar suddenly make sense plus it actually fits with the idea that Menzies being a god of shadows and trickery was decieving us all along. There was always a story to be told with Menzies, he needed a plot so this could always be that plot.

It would be very interesting to say the least if this was Menzies, another remote possibility though unlikley is that Menzies managed to MANIPLUATE his brother into believing the gods abbandoned him, which is why hes on the war path.

I could be inclined to believe the sword is a hint. As I said in another thread, maybe bringing Menzies back into the story would give us an excuse (and the ability) to go back to Fissure of Woe (preferably not as a raid wing though).

If I recall correctly, it was stated at some point that the gods are blocked from touching the world. As such, whether this was actually Balth or whether its Menzies begs the question…how did they get here? Can the gods suddenly touch the world again? Will we now see more interaction with the other gods and humans?

I’m disinclined to believe this was Menzies masquerading as his half brother though. Unless Temar and Tegon were an elaborate ruse. I don’t believe Menzies had access to the flaming hounds (even if to just mislead us with a fake Temar ankittene Tegon), and I doubt the real dogs would actually obey Menzies. There’s a perfect storm of ifs here.

Vesuvius.9874:

Ashantara.8731:

DarcShriek.5829:

Vesuvius.9874:

Ashantara.8731:

I still despise the mix of divine powers and technology

Agree 110%. Gods don’t/shouldn’t need technology to get stuff done. It undermines the value and meaning of divinity.

Except the human gods aren’t divine, they are aliens from another planet. Therefore using technology isn’t a problem.

Where did you get that idea? Just because their avatars walked the earth doesn’t make them flesh and blood.

Also, aren’t most deities “alien” by concept?

Exactly! Furthermore, their abilities and kind of magic they hold is shown to have unique properties that make it divine (such as repelling minions of Elder Dragons).

A better way to describe these “gods” is the phrase “dumb as a post”. They come all the way from their home planet with their pet humans and what’s the first thing they do? They build a city on top of a sleeping elder dragon. This is the very definition of stupid. Then to make matters worse they mess with the bloodstone. When they figure out they screwed up, they can’t agree on how to fix the problem and end up exiling one of their own. Now one of them has to come back to Tyria because apparently, he’s too dumb to figure out how to get back home.

Divine? Not a chance. A few fries short of a happy meal, most likely.

DarcShriek.5829:

Vesuvius.9874:

Ashantara.8731:

DarcShriek.5829:

Vesuvius.9874:

Ashantara.8731:

I still despise the mix of divine powers and technology

Agree 110%. Gods don’t/shouldn’t need technology to get stuff done. It undermines the value and meaning of divinity.

Except the human gods aren’t divine, they are aliens from another planet. Therefore using technology isn’t a problem.

Where did you get that idea? Just because their avatars walked the earth doesn’t make them flesh and blood.

Also, aren’t most deities “alien” by concept?

Exactly! Furthermore, their abilities and kind of magic they hold is shown to have unique properties that make it divine (such as repelling minions of Elder Dragons).

A better way to describe these “gods” is the phrase “dumb as a post”. They come all the way from their home planet with their pet humans and what’s the first thing they do? They build a city on top of a sleeping elder dragon. This is the very definition of stupid. Then to make matters worse they mess with the bloodstone. When they figure out they screwed up, they can’t agree on how to fix the problem and end up exiling one of their own. Now one of them has to come back to Tyria because apparently, he’s too dumb to figure out how to get back home.

Divine? Not a chance. A few fries short of a happy meal, most likely.

Sure, but your happy meal still can’t repel minions of Elder Dragons :P

Vesuvius.9874:

DarcShriek.5829:

Vesuvius.9874:

Ashantara.8731:

DarcShriek.5829:

Vesuvius.9874:

Ashantara.8731:

I still despise the mix of divine powers and technology

Agree 110%. Gods don’t/shouldn’t need technology to get stuff done. It undermines the value and meaning of divinity.

Except the human gods aren’t divine, they are aliens from another planet. Therefore using technology isn’t a problem.

Where did you get that idea? Just because their avatars walked the earth doesn’t make them flesh and blood.

Also, aren’t most deities “alien” by concept?

Exactly! Furthermore, their abilities and kind of magic they hold is shown to have unique properties that make it divine (such as repelling minions of Elder Dragons).

A better way to describe these “gods” is the phrase “dumb as a post”. They come all the way from their home planet with their pet humans and what’s the first thing they do? They build a city on top of a sleeping elder dragon. This is the very definition of stupid. Then to make matters worse they mess with the bloodstone. When they figure out they screwed up, they can’t agree on how to fix the problem and end up exiling one of their own. Now one of them has to come back to Tyria because apparently, he’s too dumb to figure out how to get back home.

Divine? Not a chance. A few fries short of a happy meal, most likely.

Sure, but your happy meal still can’t repel minions of Elder Dragons :P

Human god had to use asuran tech. He be dum.

Balthazar doesn’t seem to have been a god at the time, and he was never portrayed as the most intellectual of the lot to begin with.

I suspect Abaddon would have known how to make such a machine, but he would also know the consequences. In Kormir’s case… depends on how much of Abaddon’s knowledge she’s successfully assimilated.

I love how every time Anet releases a gem store skin people try to tie it to the story somehow.

“Corrupted Icebrood outfit, Braham is going to become corrupted!”

“Dwayna Shield Skin, Kasmeer is going to become a Chronomancer and use a shield!”

“Menzies Greatsword Skin, Menzies is going to be behind the events of the story!”

Sometimes a skin is just a skin. Anet have loved to make god-based weapons for a long time now.

Not to say that it definitely can’t be Menzies, but I doubt this is meant as a hint to anything.

draxynnic.3719:

Balthazar doesn’t seem to have been a god at the time, and he was never portrayed as the most intellectual of the lot to begin with.

I suspect Abaddon would have known how to make such a machine, but he would also know the consequences. In Kormir’s case… depends on how much of Abaddon’s knowledge she’s successfully assimilated.

Knowing Kormir, she would make the machine without thinking about the consequences regardless of what she knew, act all surprised when things went KABOOM, make the PC clean up her mess and then claim all the credit for the hard work.

Olveyn.2894:

There was a new GS skin added with this interesting name. Well I wouldn’t expect it to be a coincidence. Menzies is Balthazar’s half-brother and an enemy. Perhaps he was the one who weakened Balthazar so significantly that he needed to return to Tyria? Any thoughts?

My thoughts exactly…Im super excited as we never saw or face Menzies in GW1 except for it minions, that were helping Dhuum and Abaddon.

BUT if Menzies will not appear can we please get his costume like we have Baltazars and Lyss… I love to see How the GW2 art team make that evil avatar… if you do please add Abbadon and Dhuum’s too… I.MUST.HAVE.THEM! Um ehem, sorry got too excited there… But yeah…

I love to see what avatar costume of that evil Trinity look’s like after going through the amazing art team of GW2!

The real question about the Menzies is… will anyone pronounce his name right? :P

Seriously though, I strongly suspect that something related to Menzies and the Fissure of Woe is responsible for what happened from almost the moment after I finished the story. Hopefully we will find out what that is soon.

Foefaller.1082:

The real question about the Menzies is… will anyone pronounce his name right? :P

Going by the way they pronounce Jormag’s name, I don’t think so. Pretty sure they’ll pronounce it as “men-zeez” instead of the correct way.