Guild Wars 2

Kasmeer =/= Lazarus

But my original prediction: Lazarus is going for the Maw of Abaddon next > EXTREMELY LIKELY!

But a new theory arises now: kasmeer’s shock.. is it Kyle?

I say Anise… less likely the Queen. But I have been telling the wife for a long time Anise was not one of the “good guys”…

I wouldn’t be surprised if its Kasmeer’s father, complete with some kind of “Darth Vader” redemption story later.
Marjory says that “Lazarus” has touched death, there’s something about him and that he makes the hair on her neck stand on edge.

E

/Not enough charrs/

I say Lazarus is Blaine, who is also E, mascarading as Lord Faren.

…or was it the other way around ?

O.o

Yeah E will be revealed!

Amaimon.7823:

But my original prediction: Lazarus is going for the Maw of Abaddon next > EXTREMELY LIKELY!

Er… how is this extremely likely? We see the new map there, starting at 0:38, and it is green. Vigil are present, and dinorsaurs too, but most importantly: it is green.

That’s Heart of Maguuma plants too.

Maybe the Kasmeer that we saw is her clone like we saw Jennah do several years ago in LS1 or like Anise did during one of the LS2 episodes.

its her father lul

My guess after seeing the trailer was also that he/she is one of Kasmeer’s family members. It was just her reaction in the trailer.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Amaimon.7823:

But my original prediction: Lazarus is going for the Maw of Abaddon next > EXTREMELY LIKELY!

Er… how is this extremely likely? We see the new map there, starting at 0:38, and it is green. Vigil are present, and dinorsaurs too, but most importantly: it is green.

That’s Heart of Maguuma plants too.

Sloping volcanic cliffs though.

Nobody will expect this.

Ash.5034:

Sloping volcanic cliffs though.

Except in the (rather obvious) flashback to previous episode clips near the end, I didn’t see any volcanic activity in the shots.

All shots were either in Rata Novus or in the verdant underground new place.

There are the ashes of a fire flying inbetween, but that’s likely because primordus and destroyers or Lazarus’ visible ties to fire from episode 1. And the phrase “the deception will burn”.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Amaimon.7823:

But my original prediction: Lazarus is going for the Maw of Abaddon next > EXTREMELY LIKELY!

Er… how is this extremely likely? We see the new map there, starting at 0:38, and it is green. Vigil are present, and dinorsaurs too, but most importantly: it is green.

That’s Heart of Maguuma plants too.

it’s one scene, not THE scene. Remember that living stories take place in more than 1 instance. Taimi says the mursaat is coming closer. She can propably see him on that big leyline map since he’s literally a living bloodstone now. Lazarus is propably gliding past Rata Novus on his way to the volcanic isles.

Lazaruz’s identity has been leaked. It’s Lord Faren.

If they are going underground in the Ring of Fire, Lazarus may be going for the lost Scepter of Orr

Livia in GW1 was interested in the Scepter and mentioned Arah as a place where she though it would be.

Amaimon.7823:

Kasmeer =/= Lazarus

Who made such a ridiculous assumption in the first place?!?

Whoever it was, are you for real? Sweet Kasmeer would never plot anything evil.

Ashantara.8731:

Amaimon.7823:

Kasmeer =/= Lazarus

Who made such a ridiculous assumption in the first place?!?

Whoever it was, are you for real? Sweet Kasmeer would never plot anything evil.

I do. Is somenthing wrong, partner?

Lazarus could be Kyle Meade… so 50% of the answer is rigth. I pass the exam!!

UnbentMars.9126:

If they are going underground in the Ring of Fire, Lazarus may be going for the lost Scepter of Orr

Livia already got the scepter like 100+ years before LS3.

Behellagh.1468:

Nobody will expect this.

I’d really hope this means we might get a Collin legend for Revenant! It would be rifle based, with a few commando based abilities. And a trap that buffs enemies with Alacrity for a few seconds, only to fill them with torment, confusion, and vulnerable to trying other games… We’ll call it, Undo Expectations.

I’m assuming it’s joko. Would tie in with Crystal Desert.

vier.1327:

Ashantara.8731:

Amaimon.7823:

Kasmeer =/= Lazarus

Who made such a ridiculous assumption in the first place?!?

Whoever it was, are you for real? Sweet Kasmeer would never plot anything evil.

I do. Is somenthing wrong, partner?

Lazarus could be Kyle Meade… so 50% of the answer is rigth. I pass the exam!!

no.. most exams hanter the 55% or a 5,5/10 as a basic scoring system, where 50% or a 5,0 would mean a no-pass.

While I don’t believe it’s Anise, it does seem rather strange that we get this https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Soul_Battery_Fragment from Anise during the making of H.O.P.E.

Why has she been holding onto an object like this for so long? And where did she get it from?

After doing minimal research, so this doesn’t mean much, it would make sense that Anise would have a soul battery if she were really Livia in disguise, given that Livia had plenty of interaction with Gadd who was the one experimenting with the dead Seer.

Could it stand to reason that Anise is Livia and may also be Lazarus. If this is the case, it would explain why Kasmeer is so shocked. And technically, we can’t really tell from the trailer whether or not Lazarus is confirmed against us. Only that he trapped us in Rata Novus. But did he trap us to reveal his true identity because we are already on edge about the fact that we know they are most likely an impersonator.

It’s all a bit of a stretch but would be pretty fascinating and tie up a lot of loose lore ends.

Amaimon.7823:

vier.1327:

Ashantara.8731:

Amaimon.7823:

Kasmeer =/= Lazarus

Who made such a ridiculous assumption in the first place?!?

Whoever it was, are you for real? Sweet Kasmeer would never plot anything evil.

I do. Is somenthing wrong, partner?

Lazarus could be Kyle Meade… so 50% of the answer is rigth. I pass the exam!!

no.. most exams hanter the 55% or a 5,5/10 as a basic scoring system, where 50% or a 5,0 would mean a no-pass.

Not in Spain.

5.0 means drink for te victory.

It’s Scarlet Briar.

Amaimon.7823:

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Amaimon.7823:

But my original prediction: Lazarus is going for the Maw of Abaddon next > EXTREMELY LIKELY!

Er… how is this extremely likely? We see the new map there, starting at 0:38, and it is green. Vigil are present, and dinorsaurs too, but most importantly: it is green.

That’s Heart of Maguuma plants too.

it’s one scene, not THE scene. Remember that living stories take place in more than 1 instance. Taimi says the mursaat is coming closer. She can propably see him on that big leyline map since he’s literally a living bloodstone now. Lazarus is propably gliding past Rata Novus on his way to the volcanic isles.

We see multiple images and shots in the trailer that shows Lazarus inside Rata Novus – very clearly so, in fact. So… wrong.

And there’s no scene, no image, nothing that shows volcanic anything in the entire trailer. Yes, there are destroyers, but we saw those green destroyers in Tarir in episode 2, and destroyers in general are across Tyria. So that’s not saying anything about the Ring of Fire there.

UnbentMars.9126:

If they are going underground in the Ring of Fire, Lazarus may be going for the lost Scepter of Orr

The Scepter of Orr is not at the Ring of Fire islands. Besides the fact it got teleported away at the end of Prophecies, Livia had located it after GW1 and held it for a time. Where it is now is unknown, but likely in some royal vault in Kryta.

cptaylor.2670:

While I don’t believe it’s Anise, it does seem rather strange that we get this https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Soul_Battery_Fragment from Anise during the making of H.O.P.E.

Why has she been holding onto an object like this for so long? And where did she get it from?

She’s the leader of the Shining Blade, who are actively fighting the White Mantle. It’s not unusual for them to have captured some mursaat relics, and she would have ready access to all of such things.

cptaylor.2670:

Could it stand to reason that Anise is Livia and may also be Lazarus. If this is the case, it would explain why Kasmeer is so shocked. And technically, we can’t really tell from the trailer whether or not Lazarus is confirmed against us. Only that he trapped us in Rata Novus. But did he trap us to reveal his true identity because we are already on edge about the fact that we know they are most likely an impersonator.

It’s all a bit of a stretch but would be pretty fascinating and tie up a lot of loose lore ends.

Here’s a problem with that – and indeed every “Lazarus is actually our old time ally xyz” theory:

Why would Lazarus lie to us during Dragon Vigil? What would that person gain from pretending – even before absorbing the bloodstone’s magic – to be a mursaat, the most hated of hated species in the world, in front of the Pact Commander who has slain Elder Dragons when we’re actually friends with that person already?

Rather than the long-winded speech we got during Dragon Vigil, they could have shown up as Lazarus, decloaked or whatever, and revealed their true self thus avoiding all and any conflict with us.

Except this trailer and the articles about the release clearly shows Lazarus as an enemy. So we know that whoever he is… he is no ally.

Is Dragon Vigil the one with Aurene? Because we hadn’t finished dealing with the White Mantle at that point.

And just because we’ve slain elder dragons and are known heroes, doesn’t mean that we’re automatically granted access to some secret plan the queen may have in the works to deal with the White Mantle, if she even had anything to do with it and not fully Anise if Anise is Livia.

It’s further fuel to the fire if even the great and mighty pact commander believes Lazarus the mursaat is back while the White Mantle is still a threat. Sure, we may be able to keep the secret and keep the charade going, but it’s kind of a crucial time to risk making any mistakes if someone, say, E, had knowledge that the White Mantle were about to plan an attack.

And nothing about this trailer specifies that we’re talking about Lazarus as the evil that threatens Kryta. We ASSUME it is, and it focuses on Lazarus with him “trapping” Kasmeer and Marjory in the dragon lab, but we also have two elder dragons threatening us at the same time. The trailer may serve to push us towards confirming that Lazarus is evil, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where it’s going.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Except this trailer and the articles about the release clearly shows Lazarus as an enemy. So we know that whoever he is… he is no ally.

Well, in Ep.4 trailer there was a human noble with a passionate speech, and the trailer depicted him as a patriotic royalist. People even speculated on the forum that it is lord Faren’s new model or something like this.
Then Ep.4 releases, and we see that noble was pro White Mantle and that speech confronted queen Jennah’s decision to disband the parlament.
Why am I brinning that up? As you correctly said, there is no logical reason for anyone allied to us to disguise as a mursaat. But there is no logical reason for anyone who is our enemy to disguise as a our old enemy (mursaat). The logical solution would be that Lazarus is Lazarus, but the trailer pushes it in completely other direction. So either the trailer shows things from a wrong perspective (as an ep.4 trailer) to misleade us and build hype, or “Lasarus” reveal will by trully shocking. The question will it be shockingly good or shockingly bad.
I don’t really know how Anet will untie all this, but in a week I’ll be either facepalming hard, or applauding.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Amaimon.7823:

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Amaimon.7823:

But my original prediction: Lazarus is going for the Maw of Abaddon next > EXTREMELY LIKELY!

Er… how is this extremely likely? We see the new map there, starting at 0:38, and it is green. Vigil are present, and dinorsaurs too, but most importantly: it is green.

That’s Heart of Maguuma plants too.

it’s one scene, not THE scene. Remember that living stories take place in more than 1 instance. Taimi says the mursaat is coming closer. She can propably see him on that big leyline map since he’s literally a living bloodstone now. Lazarus is propably gliding past Rata Novus on his way to the volcanic isles.

We see multiple images and shots in the trailer that shows Lazarus inside Rata Novus – very clearly so, in fact. So… wrong.

EGG-XACTLY! *that’s why I said it’s ‘a’ scene and not ‘the’ scene. Remember that Living World 3 chapters come with a new map AND more than 1 instance? oh right, I already said that, you just don’t read my posts and repeat the same argument until I agree with you…

And if Lazarus is not the real Lazarus, but an imposter, what reason he have NOT to go for the next bloodstone? The real lazarus would’ve contempted to one bloodstone to restore his power. The fake Lazarus never needed that, so obviously he ate the first out of greed/gluttony and then held our survival as a guilt trip. The only sensible argument for him not to go the Maw of Abaddon would be if he went to the bloodstone in the Fen.

As for why we see him in Rata Novus, obviously, if he’s moving past Rata Novus then we intercept him there. He’ll deliver us a fatal defeat, kasmeer is shocked that it’s her alter-ego from another time (thats a joke, please don’t hammer on it like you usually do) and he’ll continue south.

Ider.1276:

But there is no logical reason for anyone who is our enemy to disguise as a our old enemy (mursaat).

Actually there is plenty of reason why an enemy of ours would disguise themselves as a mursaat. I don’t even have to reach that deep to speculate since the reasons why Lazarus would not be Lazarus is actually covered in game.

Canach: But who would pose as Lazarus?
<Character name>: Someone who wanted access to an unstable bloodstone…and an instant army to unquestioningly do their bidding.

That’s plenty of reason to want to disguise oneself as a mursaat if they were indeed an enemy.

@Amaimon I think you’re a bit confused about the usage of “moving past [place]” language wise. If you’re moving past something, it means you’re not going through that place or into that place, since you’re moving past it. You might have meant “passed by [place]” (or dropped by), which usually (though not always) means going through or into that place (it’s important to note that you need “passed by” and not simply “passed”). Konig can only go off of what you wrote, so considering the meaning of the phrase “moving past [place]”, he is correct in mentioning that Lazarus shows up in Rata Novus and that you are wrong in saying Lazarus “moves past” Rata Novus. That may be the source of confusion.

I cannot think of a reason though why Lazarus, fake or real, would go to or through Rata Novus with the intent of stopping there.

or rather.. I can think of 1 reason.. he’s overzealous on being an enemy of the dragon and wants to kill Aurene before they become a real threat..

Amaimon.7823:

I cannot think of a reason though why Lazarus, fake or real, would go to or through Rata Novus with the intent of stopping there.

or rather.. I can think of 1 reason.. he’s overzealous on being an enemy of the dragon and wants to kill Aurene before they become a real threat..

Well, since we have proof that Lazarus visits Rata Novus in the trailer itself (not only with visuals but also Taimi’s dialogue too), we know that he does go to Rata Novus.

Also Aurene is in Tarir and NOT Rata Novus, so Lazarus trying to kill Aurene by visiting Rata Novus doesn’t make sense (especially when he had the amazing opportunity to do so at the end of episode 2 and enough power to wipe Tarir off the map). Lazarus visibly aids us in defending Aurene so I don’t understand this stance you’re taking.

castlemanic.3198:

Amaimon.7823:

I cannot think of a reason though why Lazarus, fake or real, would go to or through Rata Novus with the intent of stopping there.

or rather.. I can think of 1 reason.. he’s overzealous on being an enemy of the dragon and wants to kill Aurene before they become a real threat..

Well, since we have proof that Lazarus visits Rata Novus in the trailer itself (not only with visuals but also Taimi’s dialogue too), we know that he does go to Rata Novus.

Also Aurene is in Tarir and NOT Rata Novus, so Lazarus trying to kill Aurene by visiting Rata Novus doesn’t make sense (especially when he had the amazing opportunity to do so at the end of episode 2 and enough power to wipe Tarir off the map). Lazarus visibly aids us in defending Aurene so I don’t understand this stance you’re taking.

yea, you’re right, that was a brainfart. So there really is no reason at all for lazarus fake or real to go to Rata Novus at all.. Then possibly the only reason we see him there is because we intercept him there, forcing the encounter.

EDIT: just watched WP’s vidya, and he pointed out something interesting. Lazarus is moving towards the same portal we used to go to the ember bay. So that would support my theory. He is going to the Maw of Abaddon, and the only reason he’s stopping in Rata Novus, is because there’s a portal there that lets him get there FASTER. Do note that if Lazarus is either fake or incomplete, he cannot withdraw to the mists and emerge elsewhere, so he needs real world teleportation. He can fly/float, but the Ember Bay is quite a while away

Amaimon.7823:

yea, you’re right, that was a brainfart. So there really is no reason at all for lazarus fake or real to go to Rata Novus at all.. Then possibly the only reason we see him there is because we intercept him there, forcing the encounter.

Except Taimi’s dialogue is:

“Mortal danger. A mursaat slash not a mursaat on the way.”

So he comes to us. We don’t intercept him.

EDIT:

EDIT: just watched WP’s vidya, and he pointed out something interesting. Lazarus is moving towards the same portal we used to go to the ember bay. So that would support my theory. He is going to the Maw of Abaddon, and the only reason he’s stopping in Rata Novus, is because there’s a portal there that lets him get there FASTER. Do note that if Lazarus is either fake or incomplete, he cannot withdraw to the mists and emerge elsewhere, so he needs real world teleportation. He can fly/float, but the Ember Bay is quite a while away

Except his back is turned to the portal as seen in the trailer at 18 seconds if you look at the way the fingers curl up. You’d also note that Lazarus very clearly is looking towards whatever that golem looking thing is (i’m not convinced it’s Omadd’s machine remodeled) at 34 seconds in the trailer. I also doubt that Lazarus really needs the Rata Novus portal (which is you remember actually only leads to the asuran set up at Ember Bay and not directly to Abaddon’s Mouth) considering he can fly. You’ll also note that in the final instance of episode 2 when Lazarus shows up, he appears to simply teleport into the egg chamber in a blaze of light (if you actually watch WP’s video regarding the rising flame story and watch that scene frame by frame, you will actually see Lazarus’ model appear out of nowhere before the blaze of light, it’s probably a few frames difference so during normal play we won’t see it). It might be a developer trick to show ‘he got in mysteriously’ (especially considering he knew Caithe and Marjory were busy fighting) but as far as in game references go, he essentially teleported in (there’s also the fact that Lazarus actually teleports between different locations during the rest of the fight so we know he has some teleportation capability and we also know it isn’t just a developer trick to prevent animating Lazarus moving because he moves towards Marjory when she walks away while carrying her sword over her shoulder). I do not see why Lazarus would need the portal to Ember Bay considering his vast magical capabilities. There is too much evidence pointing to Lazarus being interested with something that resides in Rata Novus, whether that’s the members of Dragon’s Watch, Omadd’s machine or something else entirely, than for him to simply be interested in using the portal to go to Ember Bay.

castlemanic.3198:

Amaimon.7823:

yea, you’re right, that was a brainfart. So there really is no reason at all for lazarus fake or real to go to Rata Novus at all.. Then possibly the only reason we see him there is because we intercept him there, forcing the encounter.

Except Taimi’s dialogue is:

“Mortal danger. A mursaat slash not a mursaat on the way.”

So he comes to us. We don’t intercept him.

If the portal to Ember Bay is his goal, then yes, he intentionally comes down to us without us intercepting him. The interception applies if he moves past Rata Novus because it’s on the way.

And it doesn’t really matter whether he’s facing the portal or away, because if he’s facing it, it’s his target, and if he’s not facing it, it could be because we interupted him

Amaimon.7823:

If the portal to Ember Bay is his goal, then yes, he intentionally comes down to us without us intercepting him. The interception applies if he moves past Rata Novus because it’s on the way.

And it doesn’t really matter whether he’s facing the portal or away, because if he’s facing it, it’s his target, and if he’s not facing it, it could be because we interupted him

Great way of ignoring everything else I said after the facing the portal comment. As I mentioned previously, he’s shown the capability to teleport into the egg chamber (from what distance we don’t know) and teleport in the egg chamber repeatedly. We also have the Lazarus staredown with the golem like thing. Also Lazarus can fly. There’s evidence of Lazarus being interested in something other than just using the portal to go to Ember Bay. I’m not convinced his end goal is the Maw of Abaddon. There simply isn’t enough evidence for it.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Here’s a problem with that – and indeed every “Lazarus is actually our old time ally xyz” theory:

Why would Lazarus lie to us during Dragon Vigil? What would that person gain from pretending – even before absorbing the bloodstone’s magic – to be a mursaat, the most hated of hated species in the world, in front of the Pact Commander who has slain Elder Dragons when we’re actually friends with that person already?

Maybe because they see how often the PC has been tricked or done idiotic things before, and didn’t want their cover blown?

The only legitimate reasons to pretend to be Mursaat are
1) Gain the WM as henchmen — and possibly use them as a puppet government after conquering Kryta (in which case “Lazarus” could be anyone, including a dragon champion, fallen god, Palawa Joko, or just a power-hungry human).
2) Provoke a schism in the WM before they go on the offensive against Kryta (which would suggest a pro-regime character like Jenna, Anise, Livia, etc.)
In either case, it suggests the key motivation is the crown of Kryta.

The other question/clue is who exactly could survive exposure to so much magic without being destroyed, much less going insane?

A dragon or dragon champion certainly could. A god or divine champion most likely could, and possibly a powerful supernatural being like Joko could. The seers constructed bloodstones, so they or Mursaat might have enough insight to develop a means to survive the effect. The only human I can imagine having a chance would be Jenna, if her bloodline and connection to the bloodstone somehow protected her. If the energy was absorbed by a device, not a person, then it could be a construct like a golem, or a wielder of a powerful artifact.

there’s also the possibility of false antagonism. Carry the name of a great villain to bring more charisma or fear to your own character. It’s been done in a lot of stories, pretend to be another great villain so you can leech of their air of power

I don’t know. I don’t see lazarus do anything in the trailer, not even speak. He may not even be evil. We just get worried sounding comments from the players. What Lazarus done since his resurrection that could be considered evil? We were looking to destroy the White Mantle that he killed as well.

castlemanic.3198:

Amaimon.7823:

If the portal to Ember Bay is his goal, then yes, he intentionally comes down to us without us intercepting him. The interception applies if he moves past Rata Novus because it’s on the way.

And it doesn’t really matter whether he’s facing the portal or away, because if he’s facing it, it’s his target, and if he’s not facing it, it could be because we interupted him

Great way of ignoring everything else I said after the facing the portal comment. As I mentioned previously, he’s shown the capability to teleport into the egg chamber (from what distance we don’t know) and teleport in the egg chamber repeatedly. We also have the Lazarus staredown with the golem like thing. Also Lazarus can fly. There’s evidence of Lazarus being interested in something other than just using the portal to go to Ember Bay. I’m not convinced his end goal is the Maw of Abaddon. There simply isn’t enough evidence for it.

Isn’t this the second release from the ember bay team? There is this strange room on top of the mursaat fortress with carvings on the floor and an door that won’t open. Maybe this “Lazarus” person wants to open the door and this is why he travels to Rata Novus. I mean… Even we, as player, can’t enter this room without the mursaat “glamour”.

Can someone remember what symbols were on this sealed door? (Not the outside one. That’s the eye of janthir.) For some strange reason I think the symbol was eternal alchemy related. Maybe thats a good reason for him to stop by in Rata Novus. Taimi was talking about Omadds machine in the last episode.

Feldorn.9564:

Isn’t this the second release from the ember bay team?

It is, but if you remember, the first team did Bloodstone Fen and Lake Doric, so we have absolutely zero indication stating that the team will revisit the Fire Island Chain. That’s also taking into consideration that we see absolutely no volcanic activity in the trailer itself. So we have all evidence pointing towards the players visiting some place other than a volcanic region, more along the lines of the Maguuma Jungle.

There is this strange room on top of the mursaat fortress with carvings on the floor and an door that won’t open. Maybe this “Lazarus” person wants to open the door and this is why he travels to Rata Novus. I mean… Even we, as player, can’t enter this room without the mursaat “glamour”.

First, that place was built by mursaat FOR mursaat only. It makes sense that players wouldn’t be able to get in without doing some additional legwork. Also, we don’t use any magic of any kind to get in. We simply wear mursaat armour. Lazarus by every appearance is wearing mursaat armour (though it could be an illusion, we don’t know as of yet). There’s absolutely no reason for Lazarus to visit Rata Novus if his goal is to go to ANY part of the Fire Island Chain. But we know for a fact that he shows up in Rata Novus (as evidenced by the trailer), so there MUST be something in Rata Novus that warrants his attention. It can’t possibly be the portal because Lazarus can fly and teleport and as such doesn’t have ANY need for a portal to the Fire Island Chain.

Can someone remember what symbols were on this sealed door? (Not the outside one. That’s the eye of janthir.) For some strange reason I think the symbol was eternal alchemy related. Maybe thats a good reason for him to stop by in Rata Novus. Taimi was talking about Omadds machine in the last episode.

From what I can remember the only symbol that existed within that room was on the red flag, the crossed hammers symbol, indicating that it belonged to something that obviously wasn’t a mursaat. Maybe I’m wrong. But I am almost 100% it has nothing to do with the Eternal Alchemy (since that’s an asuran only concept). You MIGHT be referring to the All (aka the Anti-Kytheria, however it’s spelled), which is an entirely separate thing from the Eternal Alchemy. Again though, I doubt that the symbol in the Mursaat fortress that we visit has anything to do with the All, but there’s at least a chance of a similarity since the All is an objective thing of the universe (as seen in Omadd’s machine), whereas the Eternal Alchemy is a belief system (however scientific/philosophic it may be).

cptaylor.2670:

Is Dragon Vigil the one with Aurene? Because we hadn’t finished dealing with the White Mantle at that point.

But there were no White Mantle anywhere near there. So that wouldn’t have mattered. There was no one but the Pact Commander and four very trusted allies (Marjory, Caithe, Luminate, and Ruka).

cptaylor.2670:

And just because we’ve slain elder dragons and are known heroes, doesn’t mean that we’re automatically granted access to some secret plan the queen may have in the works to deal with the White Mantle, if she even had anything to do with it and not fully Anise if Anise is Livia.

But whatever secret plan there may be, setting the Pact Commander as a potential if not definite opponent to the disguise would wreck the plan up. The fact we’ve slain Elder Dragons is proof the PC can do the impossible.

cptaylor.2670:

And nothing about this trailer specifies that we’re talking about Lazarus as the evil that threatens Kryta. We ASSUME it is, and it focuses on Lazarus with him “trapping” Kasmeer and Marjory in the dragon lab, but we also have two elder dragons threatening us at the same time. The trailer may serve to push us towards confirming that Lazarus is evil, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where it’s going.

Rata Novus is in flames, Lazarus looks upon our allies as menacing as he traps them there. And there are lines talking about Lazarus’ evil actions.

If that’s not the trailer specifying that Lazarus is evil, then that’s one hell of a well done red herring.

Ider.1276:

Well, in Ep.4 trailer there was a human noble with a passionate speech, and the trailer depicted him as a patriotic royalist. People even speculated on the forum that it is lord Faren’s new model or something like this.
Then Ep.4 releases, and we see that noble was pro White Mantle and that speech confronted queen Jennah’s decision to disband the parlament.

He wasn’t pro-White Mantle. He was just anti-totalitarian, which is what Jennah was threatening in order to draw out the White Mantle. Which is exactly what his speech was about. He was still a patriotic royalist, he just wasn’t an extremist royalist.

Amaimon.7823:

EGG-XACTLY! *that’s why I said it’s ‘a’ scene and not ‘the’ scene. Remember that Living World 3 chapters come with a new map AND more than 1 instance? oh right, I already said that, you just don’t read my posts and repeat the same argument until I agree with you…

You… completely missed my point it seems.

The trailer shows that Lazarus is not simply going past Rata Novus, (as you suggested) but rather that Lazarus is going to Rata Novus itself.

Furthermore, the other scenes were of a completely non-volcanic location, and not only that, a completely new location. That means that the new map is non-volcanic.

Amaimon.7823:

And if Lazarus is not the real Lazarus, but an imposter, what reason he have NOT to go for the next bloodstone?

There’s an infinite number of answers for that – for example, “he doesn’t need to, nor want to bother” or even “maybe he cannot reach the Ring of Fire for some reason” – but a limited number of answers for the question: “What reason does he have to go to the next bloodstone?”

Amaimon.7823:

The real lazarus would’ve contempted to one bloodstone to restore his power.

Says who?

Amaimon.7823:

The fake Lazarus never needed that, so obviously he ate the first out of greed/gluttony and then held our survival as a guilt trip.

Says who?

Who says that he consumed the Maguuma Bloodstone out of megalomania? Maybe he was telling the truth in Dragon Vigil about him doing it so that it wouldn’t destroy Tyria – after all, from the journals found in Bloodstone Fen, wek now that thanks to the White Mantle’s activity over the past decade (long before Caudecus was confessor), the Bloodstone was going to explode eventually – Lazarus just kickstarted it. If he instead ordered for the bloodstone to be left alone, it might have been decades before it exploded but it would still have exploded.

Maybe whatever plans he has requires the Maguuma Jungle and Kryta to not be a smoldering crater.

Amaimon.7823:

As for why we see him in Rata Novus, obviously, if he’s moving past Rata Novus then we intercept him there. He’ll deliver us a fatal defeat, kasmeer is shocked that it’s her alter-ego from another time (thats a joke, please don’t hammer on it like you usually do) and he’ll continue south.

There is no need for Lazarus to literally pass through a deeply underground city when he’s on the surface. So why would he – as we see in the trailer – enter Rata Novus through the same method that Canach did in episode 1?

And I actually made that alter ego joke a couple days ago so how can I not skyhammer on it. :P

Amaimon.7823:

I cannot think of a reason though why Lazarus, fake or real, would go to or through Rata Novus with the intent of stopping there.

So why were you arguing that he would go through Rata Novus? Instead of just crossing the surface dozens or hundreds of feet above Rata Novus?

And I think Omadd’s Machine / Taimi’s research is a pretty good reason – the articles mention that she’s made a machine to one-shot the remaining Elder Dragons, so that’s probably what the Scruffy lookalike is (rather than Omadd’s Machine). Or just killing the individuals who pose the biggest threat to his plans (read: Dragon’s Watch).

perilisk.1874:

Maybe because they see how often the PC has been tricked or done idiotic things before, and didn’t want their cover blown?

The GW2 PC hasn’t been tricked that much, and honestly if “Lazarus” was a good guy but not Lazarus, then the idiotic thing would be to oppose “Lazarus”, which “Lazarus” guarantees to make happen by not revealing themselves in total isolation.

perilisk.1874:

The only legitimate reasons to pretend to be Mursaat are
1) Gain the WM as henchmen — and possibly use them as a puppet government after conquering Kryta (in which case “Lazarus” could be anyone, including a dragon champion, fallen god, Palawa Joko, or just a power-hungry human).
2) Provoke a schism in the WM before they go on the offensive against Kryta (which would suggest a pro-regime character like Jenna, Anise, Livia, etc.)
In either case, it suggests the key motivation is the crown of Kryta.

If Caudecus is to be believed, then “Lazarus” sent the White Mantle to fight the Elder Dragons, which could mean he was just sacrificing them for the sake of appearing good and he doesn’t need any of the White Mantle. Just another possibility.

perilisk.1874:

The other question/clue is who exactly could survive exposure to so much magic without being destroyed, much less going insane?

Anyone who has a Shadowstone, and we know the White Mantle had spies in the Durmand Priory.

It’s obvious that whatever I say, you’re hell bent on disagreeing, as you do in pretty much every forum that isn’t yours.

So, sure. Whatever your theory is, is correct. I have no idea what your theory is, but it’s absolutely 100% correct and you know everything.

Done.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Amaimon.7823:

As for why we see him in Rata Novus, obviously, if he’s moving past Rata Novus then we intercept him there. He’ll deliver us a fatal defeat, kasmeer is shocked that it’s her alter-ego from another time (thats a joke, please don’t hammer on it like you usually do) and he’ll continue south.

There is no need for Lazarus to literally pass through a deeply underground city when he’s on the surface. So why would he – as we see in the trailer – enter Rata Novus through the same method that Canach did in episode 1?

And I actually made that alter ego joke a couple days ago so how can I not skyhammer on it. :P

Amaimon.7823:

I cannot think of a reason though why Lazarus, fake or real, would go to or through Rata Novus with the intent of stopping there.

So why were you arguing that he would go through Rata Novus? Instead of just crossing the surface dozens or hundreds of feet above Rata Novus?

My argument for that was that eh wants the portal to Ember Bay

There are 2 possible reasons why he enters Rata Novus.

First: Omadd’s machine.
Second: The asura portal to ember bay or a new place that is not yet known.

Why? The first one is pretty obvious according to the trailer. I mean, he stands right in front of it…

But why the asura portal? He clearly teleported in episode 2 inside the egg chamber from who knows how far away. But the lore of Guild Wars (Prophecies) is pretty much clear in that regard. If mursaats had the power to teleport freely all over the world, then why build mursaat portals to fire island chain in the first place? There is no evidence in GW1 or GW2 that mursaat easaly could teleport wherever they want. And we know, also since Prophecies, that the white mantle had ships (and used them) to reach the fire islands.

This theory would only be relevant if our “Lazarus” friend is indeed an actual mursaat. But by the current look of it, he is not. And it is highly unlikely that anyone in tyria can freely teleport around the globe. Further more, if Kasmeers reaction in the trailer is caused by the real identidy of Lazarus, there is no chance that he is one of the human gods in disguise. (Because she would go blind the moment she looks at Lazarus.)

The fact that he teleported in the egg chamber is no evidence for any of this. For all we know, he could easily entered through the main door with us or short after. The magical barrier was down after all.

My point is simple. Even with all the power “Lazarus” absorbed at bloodstone fen, he has to follow the same rules as every other being on Tyria. Supercharged by magic or not. Teleportation is one if this rules as we know since LW1 and LW2, mostly explained by Taimi during scarlets experiments. And “mist walking” is also no possibility if he isn’t a real mursaat or god.

But maybe we shouldn’t talk about WHERE he wants to go. Rata Novus and, for that matter, Omadd’s machine could be his goal in first place. I am more interested in the question “what” he thinks he will find in Rata Novus.

Feldorn.9564:

Further more, if Kasmeers reaction in the trailer is caused by the real identidy of Lazarus, there is no chance that he is one of the human gods in disguise. (Because she would go blind the moment she looks at Lazarus.)

Actually, we have very visual proof that humans don’t go blind the very moment their eyes are laid upon a human god.

The player character and their allies during Nightfall. We lay eyes on not one but TWO gods, Abaddon and Kormir (Abaddon was still regrowing a body, but Kormir was there in her entire glory). We also have the story of Malchor, who created lifelike statues of all the gods, eventually going blind. He fell in love with Dwayna and intentionally created her statue last in order for her to be the last thing he sees before he goes blind. So we have proof that this isn’t the case.

As for what Lazarus’ goal is and whether he’s a mursaat or not, we’ll just have to see, but specifically because Lazarus in his current form can both fly and teleport, so Lazarus in his current form doesn’t need a portal to go to Ember Bay. Current day Lazarus (whether he is a mursaat or not) seems different than basically any other mursaat, and that more than likely (though not definitively) is because of the absorption of an exploding bloodstone. By every indication that I can see, Lazarus’ current abilities isn’t representative of mursaat in general, due to the effect of absorbing that much magical ability, so it makes sense that Lazarus specifically would not need a portal, but the mursaat in general might.

There’s also another factor or two to consider with mursaat creating portals instead of simply teleporting if they had that magical capability. Convenience in both effort and literal energy expenditure. With the mursaat needing to keep an eye on both Kryta and the Door of Kormalie, a portal makes sense for the ease of travel (since if souls were immediately needed for any strange reason, getting there instantly is the best bet of fixing any issue) and for the ability to transport many individuals to a single place as opposed to multiple individuals expending energy to travel to a single place.

So at a glance it would make sense for Lazarus to want to use the portal in Rata Novus to get to Ember Bay for whatever machinations he has planned. Convenience of travel and saving energy for a bigger threat. But we have the issue of how he is perceived. If he was legitimate in his offer to rally the White Mantle and put all of his own personal energy and efforts into destroying the elder dragons, then simply asking to use the portal, with Marjory to vouch for him would be enough to accomplish his goal, and he can come up with some convenient explanation for why he can be trusted or why Caudecus’ journal is incorrect (because there IS confusion about whether Bauer actually swapped the artifact or not containing Lazarus’ final aspect, considering Bauer’s personal journal and Bauer’s letter to Caudecus concerning the matter). Instead, Lazarus is portrayed as actively antagonistic (instead of the ignorance concerning the value of ‘lesser’ lives according to some of his dialogue in my opinion), which would work against whatever end goal he is trying to achieve. If he wanted to go to Ember Bay uninterrupted, he could have flown/teleported there to avoid opposition. Instead, he’s in Rata Novus and he’s up to some shady dealings. So I remain unconvinced that Ember Bay is his goal at all.

In addition to Omadd’s machine, we know Taimi was working on filtering magic with “Spencer.” Maybe being able to do that would also benefit Lazarus.

Think of it this way folks, the “teleporting” that Lazarus does could be nothing more than becoming invisible, and moving about and coming out in another location. Have we seen him actually blink from one point to another? He could simply going out of phase with Tyria (as Mursaat have done) and moving from one point to another.