Guild Wars 2

so, if she is supposed to be making a mokery out of tyria and queen jenna, wouldnt you think that beacuse she “appeared” in divinity’s reach, and had a sort of “audiance” with jenna and all her peoples, killed some of them, then ran off, and is now ransacking the world, which mind you queen jenna is trying to keep the peace, if i remember correctly (maybe its just between the humans and the char) wouldnt that make the humans looks like…..namby pambies? or what ever you want to say, because they didnt stop her, and are trying to stop her, but she keeps getting away? thats just my theory

DarksunG.9537:

Should have just been an Alternate Shodd. He’s got a less annoying personality & doesn’t look .. well.. like her.

People who didn’t play that Asura part of the story would just say “Shodd who?”

Personally I don’t mind her, but I’m not a total fan yet. It is a bit like Rox and Braham, I want to see her in more before I pass judgement. I remember during the Flame and Frost updates people wondered why we should give two spits about these guys and now we have more on them and some folks actually do like them.

Has the giggling evil superwoman bit been done to death? Yeah, but so has the idea of “humanity on its last hope” but it still gets the job done.

I love Scarlet, too! She’s a very devious villain and her voice over is amazing. Props to that actress. I definitely wanna see more of Scarlet in the future. A lot more.

Wayshuba.5912:

There is a saying in moosh kama kama land…

Fifteen and five is twelve.

Solve that riddle and you will know why she is all over the world.

She does her math in Base 18?

I “like” her. I admit it. So there.
She has totally lost it. Totally. I don’t need a super villain who says: “All your realm shall belong to me, you fools!” It’s been done before in plenty of games.
So has the seducing seductress. And the cool macho. Or the old dark and sinister caped wanderer.

She lost it, it’s that simple. And we all know how crazy pure geniuses can get. Nutty professors ftw! Unless they turn evil, like Scarlet.
And it’s kinda scary, because we don’t know what she’ll do when she really gets mad. There are nu rules, no boundaries, nothing to crazy.

I tried looking up the portals, but only saw some weird looking industrial structures. Hmmm. I hope she’s not an alien in disguise. hahaha (Now that would really be a failure.)

Oh, and I love the way the enemies are shaped. Congratz to the designers/artists and whoever worked on them. They are kinda scary. Reminding me of War of The Worlds and The Matrix and The Fallen Transformers. Awesome.
She on the other hand could have looked more menacing. Keep the crazy lit eyes, but change her head a bit…

I look forward to put that crazy twig down for good! If only to shut her up. hehe (Unless she comes back with every anniversary event. :p)

Good job team! Room for improvement, but overall, give yourselves a pat on the back. You can’t satisfy everyone, but if you can satisfy more then you let down, that’s a good job.

I don’t hate or like Scarlet but like all the other characters in the game, she is very boring. She certainly isn’t original and while that doesn’t have to be done w/ all characters, its not like the type of character they were going for w/ her is done well. I have nothing against her, she is just very boring and I would rather play some other part of the game.

I also felt the Watchknight twist was so dumb and predictable from the beginning. It would have been better if they just came out of no where instead of trying to make them into a surprise.

If this was to set the tone for other living story releases then I’m uninterested for at least until next year

DarksunG.9537:

Yamsandjams.3267:

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

I’m really curious about her motives though. Assuming she isn’t evil for the sake of being evil.

Some people just want to watch the world burn.

Ugh, you aren’t SERIOUSLY comparing her character to the Joker? that’s like comparing a Risen to Galactus.

What’s different between Scarlet and Dark Knight Joker?

Uruz Six.6594:

DarksunG.9537:

Yamsandjams.3267:

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

I’m really curious about her motives though. Assuming she isn’t evil for the sake of being evil.

Some people just want to watch the world burn.

Ugh, you aren’t SERIOUSLY comparing her character to the Joker? that’s like comparing a Risen to Galactus.

What’s different between Scarlet and Dark Knight Joker?

Aside from one being a tree and the other being a person?

The Dark Knight Joker was incredibly more effective and efficient with his tools than Scarlet has been thus far. I don’t know, though, she could have a high amount of resources to push that many portals active for the invasion efforts but it seems more than a little wasteful.

Part of me is thinking (or hoping, perhaps) she has something else she’s doing with this opportunity she has taken now.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Uruz Six.6594:

DarksunG.9537:

Yamsandjams.3267:

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

I’m really curious about her motives though. Assuming she isn’t evil for the sake of being evil.

Some people just want to watch the world burn.

Ugh, you aren’t SERIOUSLY comparing her character to the Joker? that’s like comparing a Risen to Galactus.

What’s different between Scarlet and Dark Knight Joker?

Aside from one being a tree and the other being a person?

The Dark Knight Joker was incredibly more effective and efficient with his tools than Scarlet has been thus far. I don’t know, though, she could have a high amount of resources to push that many portals active for the invasion efforts but it seems more than a little wasteful.

Part of me is thinking (or hoping, perhaps) she has something else she’s doing with this opportunity she has taken now.

Well seeing as how the majority of her army are corrupted Watch Knights, which used her enemies resources not her own, she probably doesn’t care if its “wasteful” she’s probably just trying to cause as much chaos as possible before someone stops her from using her enemies new soldiers as hers.

Not to mention we don’t even know her motive (if she even has one), or what other alliances she has made that are like the Aetherblade and the Molten Alliance, as one of my friends said the nightmare court are probably taking notes on how evil and heartless she is, so she may even have an alliance with some of them we haven’t seen yet.

I think it’s a great character for the type of content. Keep in mind she’s only there to toss some events at you. She can’t deliver 10 page monologues while that’s going on.

Also keep in mind you just had a very political event with the election. Why should they follow that up with something else serious? Why not let them mix it up so you’ll be more moved when something big does happen. You can’t expect with an ongoing plot for them to lay out all the coming secrets.

I find this crazy salad sylvari annoying.

Scarlet also looks extremely repulsive, which might be intended by Anet.

How on Tyria did she manage to persuade all hostile factions(minus the dragons) to united behind her and attack the humans?
(Well, she did attack every other races but she choose the Queen’s Jubilee for her grand stage.)

And why is it a salad sylvari mastermind again? Last time it was Canach.

Is it just me or it is time for another type of villain already?

TurtleofPower.5641:

I think it’s a great character for the type of content. Keep in mind she’s only there to toss some events at you. She can’t deliver 10 page monologues while that’s going on.

Also keep in mind you just had a very political event with the election. Why should they follow that up with something else serious? Why not let them mix it up so you’ll be more moved when something big does happen. You can’t expect with an ongoing plot for them to lay out all the coming secrets.

I don’t think it would have taken 10 page monologues

If she had only one impressive story instance I would have been interested. The instance that we got along w/ having to be within 10 min of the invasion starting shows that they can’t make large events and interesting instances.

And I don’t expect them to lay out all the coming secrets but I do expect it to make me interested in finding out more. This release makes me not want to take part in future living story releases.

biofrog.1568:

I’m almost certain Scarlet is based on Helena Bonham Carter. The comparison is uncanny!

Haha my girlfriend said the exact same thing. I like her too. It’s a bit quick to judge on it all, but then again this is the interwebs where opinions are fact and we all need to agree to it. She’s just been introduced give it some time to grow on you, she’ll most likely be returning more often, that’s my guess at least. As if ‘The Joker’ was immediately awesome from day 1 when he was introduced. Characters need to grow on you, shallow or not. Perhaps Scarlet is deeper than what appears to be.

I can’t wait to see more of scarlet, wink wink

No, but really, im about to start a scarlet fan club : D

Weindrasi.3805:

I just wanted to say that I was irritated when I saw how much people on here were slamming Scarlet. I think she is marvelous. The critical people just need to sit back and enjoy. The Queen’s Speech instance had me laughing out loud, marveling at the artistic creativity of Scarlet’s minions, and just generally enjoying myself. It was a pleasure to play. So far, the Living Story villains as a whole—from the Flame & Frost bosses, to the Aetherblades, and so-on, have been great fun.

I absolutely agree ! After the stupid that was Liadri, this was awesome. I had so much fun playing through Scarlet’s Playhouse and doing the achievements.

Wasn’t too easy and wasn’t too hard.

Perfect. It’s how Liadri should have been.

I see Scarlet as a cross between Harley Quinn and Azula, so far.

Scarlet: As if I didn’t have enough reason to adore Tara Strong.

inazuma.7021:

I see Scarlet as a cross between Harley Quinn and Azula, so far.

Scarlet: As if I didn’t have enough reason to adore Tara Strong.

She was the only reason I liked Rikku.

But if you need other reasons? I’ve heard her Twitter is a goldmine.

psy.5437:

Scarlet is less subtle a villain than a brick to the face named “villain”.

That’s why I hoping once the story develops they actually have something interesting to say about her.

I really didn’t like the way she was known to graduate from all asuran colleges and this is the only time we have heard about her. So her being from another reality/dimension can’t happen, also that doesn’t make sense they she uses the steam creatures who ARE from another reality.

We should have a side quest where we visit her college mentors to find out more about her.

Yeni.3507:

I find this crazy salad sylvari annoying.

Scarlet also looks extremely repulsive, which might be intended by Anet.

How on Tyria did she manage to persuade all hostile factions(minus the dragons) to united behind her and attack the humans?
(Well, she did attack every other races but she choose the Queen’s Jubilee for her grand stage.)

And why is it a salad sylvari mastermind again? Last time it was Canach.

Is it just me or it is time for another type of villain already?

Arguably, Canach was just a patsy who was angry when he found out he was a patsy with the real villain being the consortium.

Nageth.5648:

Arguably, Canach was just a patsy who was angry when he found out he was a patsy with the real villain being the consortium.

Set up to take the fall for what went wrong, THEN his methods of dealing with the Consortium ranged to the “too extreme”.

Also? Not a mary sue sylvari

no wonder why i LOVE her voice, tara strong did the acting? kittening a arenanet i kittening love you now!

Scribbles.3974:

no wonder why i LOVE her voice, tara strong did the acting? kittening a arenanet i kittening love you now!

Yup. She also does the voice of the Queen’s Gauntlet Announcer.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Nageth.5648:

Arguably, Canach was just a patsy who was angry when he found out he was a patsy with the real villain being the consortium.

Set up to take the fall for what went wrong, THEN his methods of dealing with the Consortium ranged to the “too extreme”.

Also? Not a mary sue sylvari

“Too extreme” being planting an extremely dense mine field in a cave and then hiding in said cave. I kid, I kid.

Nageth.5648:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Nageth.5648:

Arguably, Canach was just a patsy who was angry when he found out he was a patsy with the real villain being the consortium.

Set up to take the fall for what went wrong, THEN his methods of dealing with the Consortium ranged to the “too extreme”.

Also? Not a mary sue sylvari

“Too extreme” being planting an extremely dense mine field in a cave and then hiding in said cave. I kid, I kid.

Also being developing those plants sending everything on Southsun Cove into an enraged frenzy tearing apart things :P And blowing up a ship to destroy the contracts. I mean, he snuck that under the Lionguard’s noses. Crafty.

inazuma.7021:

Scribbles.3974:

no wonder why i LOVE her voice, tara strong did the acting? kittening a arenanet i kittening love you now!

Yup. She also does the voice of the Queen’s Gauntlet Announcer.

i always knew somewhere in the part of my brain that was shut off, i was like “oddly…..this sounds like…….hmmm maybe”

Uruz Six.6594:

DarksunG.9537:

Yamsandjams.3267:

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

I’m really curious about her motives though. Assuming she isn’t evil for the sake of being evil.

Some people just want to watch the world burn.

Ugh, you aren’t SERIOUSLY comparing her character to the Joker? that’s like comparing a Risen to Galactus.

What’s different between Scarlet and Dark Knight Joker?

The Joker killed Batman’s girlfriend, an important and established character. Scarlet is supposed to be some kind of genius yet she didn’t predict the most predictable event – the mesmer queen with the mesmer bodyguard used an illusion as a body double. We had a Living Story instance which told us Scarlet is smart, but it showed us that’s she’s actually stupid.

TurtleofPower.5641:

I think it’s a great character for the type of content. Keep in mind she’s only there to toss some events at you. She can’t deliver 10 page monologues while that’s going on.

Also keep in mind you just had a very political event with the election. Why should they follow that up with something else serious? Why not let them mix it up so you’ll be more moved when something big does happen. You can’t expect with an ongoing plot for them to lay out all the coming secrets.

Personally I don’t consider the election a serious event, it had very little story value. From my perspective it was a mechanism to deliver a fractal choice to the players and a novelty experiment in engaging players in the world. The writing between the two characters was cardboard cliché hero and villain stuff and the story consequences of the election are minimal.

Scarlet has supposedly been around (presumably) since Flame and Frost, working behind the scenes. Apparently she’s also been doing everything ever that’s impressive without actually being mentioned in the world prior to this. We should have been exposed to Scarlet from the beginning. They should have been developing her character from the start, not holding everything back for an “aha” moment later on – we would have been more invested in the story up until now, instead there was no build up and the story went from 0 to 11 in one month. Show us how she manipulated the Molten Alliance, show us why Mai was scared of her. If they wanted to wait until now to make her threatening, let her kill the queen, that would firmly establish her as an intelligent opponent who is not to be taken lightly. For the most part Scarlet has been a little bit of tell and no show. Scarlet has done very little but we are told she’s done a lot.

One of the reasons Braham and Rox are becoming more popular is they are developing. They weren’t introduced as unbelievable characters – Rox seems pretty ordinary and aside from Braham’s lineage (which I am critical of) he is also relatively ordinary. They both had personal connections to why they were doing what they were doing. Rox was trying to earn her way into a new warband, something the world’s lore tells us is important to a charr, and Braham was fighting to save his home and his family – both of these characters make sense. We didn’t get “teased” about Rox and Braham for seven months before we found out anything, we knew why we should care about them right from the beginning. They’ve since continued to grow as characters each time we see them and neither of them has some Mary Sue writing to make them seem more than what they are (Braham still suffers from the Eir connection, but so far they haven’t done anything bad with that).

Scarlet’s voice actor is good. I can agree with that.

Shiren.9532:

The Joker killed Batman’s girlfriend, an important and established character. Scarlet is supposed to be some kind of genius yet she didn’t predict the most predictable event – the mesmer queen with the mesmer bodyguard used an illusion as a body double. We had a Living Story instance which told us Scarlet is smart, but it showed us that’s she’s actually stupid.

I don’t think that’s quite the case, I think Jenna isn’t the physical target. She can still do harm to the Queen through basically subverting the watchknights and turning this wonderful Crown Pavilion into her own playpen even for a time.

Remember, even the Joker got simple details wrong in his plans. It’s just they didn’t really matter.

Scarlet is everything I dislike in a Sylvari, and then some.

However, the Hobotron is awesome!

While I do think Scarlet is a bit of a Villain Sue, I have to say that I love her voice acting.

“Die die die. Die die die, die die.” XD

Also, her Twisted minions are really cool. Whoever designed them, especially the Twisted Nightmares, deserves a raise.

Their presentation would have been a LOT better if it had been done in such a way that the Mad King was introduced. I actually liked doing the quests for the Mad Memoires back piece because it really gave me an insight to his background, which in turn made me feel that this MAD king was a threat. Now if they dropped more hints to progress Scarlet’s character in the past Living Story events, I’d be much more interested in the story. I guess it’s really up to the next patch for Anet to give us more information about what’s really going on with her.

Your all forgetting one detail that was said by the asura, she saw the eternal alchemy so maybe she was driven mad by seeing it!

Gloam Drifter.9158:

I’m glad that someone likes her… to me she is almost unbearably annoying. Every time I hear “Later tater” I want to punch my monitor. I, like a lot of people, expected some kind of twist or something.. a giant event or reveal to explain the secrecy, but no, she was just some annoying new character.. lots of suspense building up to the reveal and it was just extremely anti-climatic..

LATER TATER, punch your monitor and destroy your property now.

Orion Star.3651:

Your all forgetting one detail that was said by the asura, she saw the eternal alchemy so maybe she was driven mad by seeing it!

He also says he doubts that, because the Eternal Alchemy is not something you “see” . . . of course it’s possible something else pushed her over the edge. Someone floated the idea she was one of the sylvari who got experimented on by the Inquest.

Bearlin.7238:

Their presentation would have been a LOT better if it had been done in such a way that the Mad King was introduced.

It’s funny but when I noticed Scarlet’s green complexion, I thought to myself that if the Mad King was the pumpkin, she’d most likely be the stem.

Scarlet is great when it comes to the actual interaction with the character. If I didn’t know her backstory I’d say she’s an entertaining crazy lunatic who we need to put down. AS OF RIGHT NOW though, her backstory is the most eye-roll worthy thing written in the game. I’m very suspicious that anet has a reason that she was able to pull this off(someone controlling the person you thought was the villain seems to be something anet likes). Until that point comes though, scarlet is a blight on the overall story. But again, when im fighting her in the dungeon, she’s an A+ villain.

Orion Star.3651:

Your all forgetting one detail that was said by the asura, she saw the eternal alchemy so maybe she was driven mad by seeing it!

Not quite, he BELIEVES she went mad because of it, but all we know is that after whatever happened she went mad. It could be that what she was some malevolent force that made her think it was the alchemy and had her do its evil bidding.

I have a giant crush on Scarlet.
she is just hawt, bad girls are awesome.

Who does her voice again? I can’t seem to find the thread where Anet said it.

Why do most people assume that sylvari are scientifically inept or even outright dumb? Their tech isn’t compatible with asuran and charr war machinery, but the Pact still uses those weird magic-imbued vines throughout all of Orr, so at least some of it is up to scratch.

As for the “graduated from all 3 colleges in record time” bit, the original presentation made me facepalm over and over. However, I’ve seen some nice theories to explain it in hindsight, without just making her a Sue character that “simply is that smart”.

Overall I think the character is well-designed and enjoyable (in the sense that in-universe you want to bash her face in with Caladbolg then pin her to Tequatl’s head as the megalaser fires), but her backstory was presented in pretty much the worst way possible. She didn’t need that line on her graduations, it doesn’t add anything to her character (yet, anyway), and it wasn’t foreshadowed in the slightest.

Above all, it’s entirely unnecessary to the current plot, she’s blowing stuff up and unleashing her minions throughout the world, not engaging in some weird pseudo-science battle of wits. If this information is relevant and not just a slap-it-on Sue trait, we could’ve been told at the next “big reveal” once whatever her plan is actually requires some form of scientific knowledge.

In short: good character, straight T— (for Troll ^^) on story delivery. Can’t rate the backstory itself yet as we have no reliable sources.

Orion Star.3651:

Your all forgetting one detail that was said by the asura, she saw the eternal alchemy so maybe she was driven mad by seeing it!

Some get inspired, some go mad, others run.

Shiren.9532:

The Joker killed Batman’s girlfriend, an important and established character. Scarlet is supposed to be some kind of genius yet she didn’t predict the most predictable event – the mesmer queen with the mesmer bodyguard used an illusion as a body double. We had a Living Story instance which told us Scarlet is smart, but it showed us that’s she’s actually stupid.

Because Scarlet could use the bandits to subvert the Shining Blade to get the real Queen like the Joker did. This isn’t about linear comparisons.

Maybe she’s dumb. And maybe the same terrorist that gave us ‘fog and sand’ is sending a message: ‘Your queen didn’t trust you enough to show herself in person.’ ‘Your queen is an illusion.’

Secrets Bookahs Were Not Meant To Know? I mean, seriously, Scarlet might’ve just viewed the ingame equivalent of an Old One. Hell, the Twisted look equal parts H.G. Wells Martian Tripod, and something H.R. Giger probably cooked up in his young days.

IMO scarlet could really use some mass aoe skills or something lol, i dont think i ever see a player get downed if its a 200 v 1 fight.

I do like Scarlet even if she has the Joker vibe going, I think she’s a much more entertaining villain than any we have seen in the game but as others have said her motivations really need to be revealed.

Motivations are what helps to make a worthwhile villain. They should be such that you can understand them and even have empathy or admiration for them, even while you do not approve of the villain’s methods. The best villains are ones where you can look at them and realize that your hero might easily have become them.

At the very least Scarlet has a memorable personality. That is something that has been lacking in villains like the Elder Dragons or Canache. It good to see ArenaNet’s stories moving in the direction of focusing on the villains themselves rather than only the results of their actions.

Totally agree with the OP. The way she was introduced was well executed too imo

I love her and hope that her background becomes multiple sidequests. My suspicions are she is from the same “other pale tree” as Malyck and hope that ultimately our lead us to that tree to expand on the story line left with a big question mark from the Sylvari storyline.

We can only hope. Perhaps she, and those like her, are why Malyck hasn’t reappeared.

She is cute, mad, great voice actress, and has a plan that we don’t know yet, so what is not to love.

But here is a question for you; what makes you think there is only one Scarlet? It would stand to reason that there would be two would it not? Other worlds, portals, and whatnot.

Im wondering how does sylvari becomes mad as Thorn unless they slip into Nightmare. Even then they are not mad, they just switch to that emo gothic perspective. Otherwise, they are really attuned to Tree, and the Dream, so im really curious. She doesn’t look like she belongs to Nightmare court, so what does it take for sylvari to distance itself from Tree and go mad like that?

kRiza krimos.1637:

Im wondering how does sylvari becomes mad as Thorn unless they slip into Nightmare. Even then they are not mad, they just switch to that emo gothic perspective. Otherwise, they are really attuned to Tree, and the Dream, so im really curious. She doesn’t look like she belongs to Nightmare court, so what does it take for sylvari to distance itself from Tree and go mad like that?

Err, just take a stroll around Tyria and be at the wrong place at the wrong time? Especially asura, nightmare court and dragon-blighted zones are full of crazy stuff, and the Dream isn’t a catch-all anti-madness insurance. Plus Scarlet might have been cut off from the Dream prior to her descent into madness, even willingly as the Soundless did.

Of course, this also is a great hook for expanding the story, especially as it could be made relevant to her current plans and how to stop them. Or reveal the true mastermind behind the entire plot, because forging an alliance of 2 xenophobic and 2(3?) sociopathic groups, stealing Pact hardware and corrupting the new Watchwork tech “foah teh evulz” seems awfully difficult to achieve by anyone mad enough to desire it.

Imagine Scarlet trying to negotiate with the Flame Legion, she’s a female sylvari (not even made of meat!), at best they’d try to chop her up for firewood XD