Guild Wars 2

Before you start reading this, let me say that this theory rely on a lot of assumptions and a lot of theories that were already developed by other people. I merely wanted to add my own ideas and beliefs regarding what’s going on with Scarlet’s story arc. You should also know that I’m French Canadian and that my English is not perfect. So there’s probably going to be a lot of writing errors, even in this little introduction. If you notice them, it’s normal. I did my best. I hope you appreciate reading my own theories. I’d also like to give credits to every fans of Guild Wars 2 who came up with their own theories, some of which greatly influenced my own beliefs.

My own theory about what’s going to happen next:

Scarlet will attack Lion’s Arch. That much is certain and it was just confirmed as I wrote these lines. She’ll launch a massive attack on the city’s defenses while bringing down her massive drilling machine in the lake (where her probe can be found) in order to create a tunnel to reach the magical leyline beneath the city. I think it is clear now that her probes where actually researching the network of magical leylines scattered across the globe. Once she has access to this leyline, I believe she’ll use the powerful poison she created in the Tower of Nightmares and mix it inside the magical current. Of course, I don’t even know if it is possible to do such a thing, to use the magical leylines as conductors, but anything is possible in a magical fantasy world. Now, why would she do this? She wants to poison and cripple the Pale Tree. I strongly believe that this poison was created to weaken or even destroy the Pale Tree. This is not a coincidence if the Tower of Nightmare looked like a giant tree-like tower. I think that it was created from the same type of seeds from which the Pale Tree originated. That way Scarlet could concoct the right poison suiting the “biology” of her target. But how is it related to the leyline beneath Lion’s Arch?

As a powerful magic entity, I believe that the Pale Tree needs a tremendous amount of magic energy in order to maintain the Dream as a whole. We can only assume the insane level of magical resources it takes to breed new sylvaris, to nurture them in the dream and to continuously preserve their connection to it. So, where does the Pale Tree finds all the magic it needs in order to do all those things? We know that most beings, except maybe the gods, aren’t inherently magic in nature. They tap into the magic energies of the world through their environment (or so I believe). Even the Elder Dragons need to consume magic and, according to the lore, once they consume it all, they return into their dormant state until their next awakening. We can assume then that after the elder dragon’s appearances, magic completely disappears from the world, at least for a time. Magic is then a finite resource that recycles itself over the course of time. And I believe that, just as any other beings, the Pale Tree needs to tap into the world in order to acquire its magical energies and that it uses one of those leylines as an infinite source of magic in order to maintain the dream. The Pale Tree’s roots might be directly connected to it and, just as dragons consume magic, the Pale Tree feeds off of this constant flow of natural energy, using it for its purpose. And that leyline is the one Scarlet was searching for all along. She’s going to pour her poison directly inside the magical vein that flows through the Pale Tree in order to weaken it considerably. In this weakened state, she could then destroy it by using the powerful Aethercannon she was testing during the Giant Twisted Marionette meta-event. At first, I thought the marionette’s purpose was to distract us while Scarlet collected the energy needed to complete her drilling machine (because the gigantic platform from which the marionette hanged was identical to the upper parts of the drill depicted in Scarlet’s lair). While I do believe the drill will eventually be attached to this giant platform, I think the drill itself is already finished and ready. The only thing Scarlet lacked to complete her master plan was a weapon powerful enough to destroy the Pale Tree in its weakened state, thus the Aethercannon.

Why would she do such a thing? Destroying the Pale Tree is the only thing from which Scarlet could truly benefit. Each time we learned a bit more about Scarlet, there was something about her persona that kept coming back: her insatiable desire for independence, to free herself and her people from their predestined paths. And I believe that is what makes Scarlet such a nice villain, because you can easily understand her obsession and her motives (although not all her actions). It is true that sylvaris are often born to fulfill defined roles in their society and that their desires to complete their Wild Hunts play a major part in the development of their identity. Just look at Trahearne. His “destiny” was to purge Orr from its corruption and even though he had no idea how to accomplish such a feat until the opportunity presented itself, every action he took in his life served towards the completion of this unique goal. It literally shaped him.

Now, if Scarlet is unknowingly Mordremoth’s minion (she hears his voice but reject the fact that he might be controlling her actions) as many players claimed, what does HE have to gain in the destruction of the Pale Tree? Well, if the sylvaris are indeed the Jungle Dragon’s minions and the Pale Tree was intended to be one of his original champions, he probably wants them back under his control. People assumed that he could not control them specifically because of the existence of the Pale Tree and the Dream of Dreams which would protect the sylvaris against his influence. It would explain why he might want the tree destroyed. That way he could get his “army” back. But since we know there are other existing trees like the Pale Tree that aren’t linked to the Dream and thus, doesn’t benefit from the “Dream’s protection”, why aren’t the sylvaris born from these trees corrupted by Mordremoth’s influence? Doesn’t he have other minions or armies? Why would he use Scarlet instead? Because he is not fully awakened yet and something is warding off his powers; he is a prisoner. Let me explain my theory. I think that Mordremoth’s conscience is awake (though not entirely) but his body is still in a dormant state. Remember, Primordus wasn’t fully awaken in Eye of the North but his destroyers were still running amok, which indicated a certain level of awareness on his part but he didn’t rise until many years later. Right now, all dragons are awakened, except for Mordremoth (and maybe Bubbles but from what the ocean races tell us, he has awakened as well). With everything that has happened in Tyria over the last years, why haven’t we heard or seen anything related to Mordremoth? He should be awakened by now. Why would he be hiding? My assumption is that he is sleeping beneath the Pale Tree and that the Pale Tree is actually keeping him in its dormant state to prevent his actual rise. How?

According to what we know, dragons usually emerge when there is too much magic in the world. They consume all of it and return into slumber while magic slowly leaks from their body back into the world until the time of their return comes and the cycle begins anew. Having lost all the magical energy they had consumed during their previous rise, it’s their insatiable hunger for magic that eventually wakes them up. It is safe to assume that when they return they are weaker then they originally were which would explain why there is a delay between their «first awakening» and their actual emergence. The way I see it, Primordus didn’t rise immediately at the end of EotN because he needed to strengthen his powers first by consuming magic. In Mordremoth’s case, the Pale Tree is preventing him from gaining back his strength and fully awakening his body. I can easily picture the Jungle Dragon in its dormant state, deep beneath the earth under the Pale Tree, entangled in the tree’s giant roots which prevent him from devouring the flow of magical energy coming from the leyline. I think the Pale Tree’s purpose was actually to prevent Mordremoth’s rise. Maybe the gods or the druids, knowing more information about this powerful and dangerous foe, directed Ronan and Ventari’s actions. The Dream of Dreams might even be the spiritual representation of Mordremoth’s prison/dormant state and the Nightmare would be a direct consequence of his dark influence over this realm. And through the Dream, the dragon managed to pierce the veil of his prison to create a connection to a singular sylvari which obsessions could easily serve his needs. Now, we could ask ourselves why the Pale Tree doesn’t reveal that fact and doesn’t try to actually kill the dragon while it is still in a weakened state. A quick hypothesis can easily explain why. There’s a probability that by killing the dragon, the Pale Tree and all sylvaris would die. The only problem to this hypothesis is that Zhaitan’s minions are still running amok, even after his demise. But remember that each dragon is different and that their corruption/minions might work differently. Plus, Zhaitan may still be alive (but this is wishful thinking after a disappointing final fight).

That’s about it. A lot of what I wrote here are pure assumptions and most of them are probably going to be dismissed by people who knows a lot more about the lore than me. But I do WANT to believe that Mordremoth is actually still sleeping under the Pale Tree and that the tree is keeping him in check which would explain why the dragon can’t even control the sylvari that are not under the « Dream’s protection ». Finally, I strongly believe that Scarlet is going to destroy the Pale Tree, freeing the dragon and bringing hell down upon her entire race (and Tyria). And future content will see the sylvaris creating a new home in the Maguuma Jungle while trying to ward off the dragon’s evil influence.

The impression I’ve always had from the story “What Scarlet Saw” is that she is not interested in destroying the Pale Tree. It’s the dream that Scarlet is looking to destroy.