I want to preface this by saying that I neither expect or really want anything within the personal story to change. To do so would cause a reworking of a major part of the game when there are far too many more important aspects that require attention. These are my opinions and, as a fan of writing and especially character developments, I simply felt like sharing them.
That being said, Trahearne feels as though he is someone’s D&D character that managed to leak in to the story at some point. While I understand the desire to not have every player running around be The Chosen One, I feel that Trahearne was given far too much importance within the story to the point of the suspension of disbelief being broken along with managing to make characters that had been important before seem like meat shields from that point on. Simply put, Trahearne was elevated to a status that was practically messianic for no real reason.
My first character being a Sylvari, I was “introduced” to Trahearne at a very early point within the story. At that point he was presented as a valuable researcher of Orr, the bona fide expert on the subject, but there was no indication of what was in store for his character roughly ~30 levels later. In fact, it is really not until after Claw Island that my issues with Trahearne really begin to surface.
After Claw Island is overrun by the undead, your character and Trahearne visit the Pale Tree to enter The Dream and see visions of what may happen in the future. I feel this segment of the story could have come during a later point in the story, namely when there isn’t a dragon chewing on some Asura in Lion’s Arch, but I digress. During your stay within The Dream, it is revealed that Trahearne will become a great general and lead united forced against Zhaitan’s army. This in its self is not too offensive as The Dream is able to impart wisdom and knowledge on any Sylvari it chooses.
What follows your journey in to The Dream is a sequence of events in which players are told, yet not shown why, that many lead characters within the story revere Trahearne. As the three factions gather in Lion’s Arch to discuss the best strategy, Trahearne convinces every single member to unite with hardly any second guessing or argument. Much of this is due to the immense respect that each faction leader has for Trahearne.
After Claw Island is retaken, the three factions agree to join as one force, The Pact, which is ruled by Trahearne. Again, hardly any discussion was given by leaders of the three factions. They suddenly set aside all of their differences because Trahearne wanted them to. Even Moses, Jesus Christ, and Muhammad, the prophets of the three Abrahamic faiths, were well in to their middle or late years before they began to inspire enough loyal followers to become significant. Players are expected to believe that Trahearne is fit to lead these forces simply because they are told so. This ruins what depth or arc Trahearne may have been given up to this point.
On the subject of being told yet not shown, it seems that every denizen of Tyria is in debt to Trahearne for one reason or another. Characters are introduced for one mission simply to stand in awe of him and are never seen again once the mission is completed. Even more annoying, often times these reasons are not even given. The worst offender is the introduction of a character from an entirely new race I was not even aware existed up to this point. Despite this character’s race being insular and aloof of other races, this woman has such great respect for Trahearne that she agrees to help you destroy some of Zhaitan’s most vital minions. To reiterate, we are introduced to an entirely new race simply to make Trahearne seem even more important. This is the kind of writing one would expect from a middle schooler, not someone who I assume to be a professional with a degree.
While I would like to discuss the deus ex machinas employed by Trahearne near the end of the story, I must confess that I did not complete it. I was only able to see one such instance. In the mission right after killing the Eye of Zhaitan, a new form of magic that had never before been mentioned is used to reveal what The Eye saw. While the details I hazy, I distinctly remember Trahearne being a master of this newly revealted type of magic for no real reason other than to once again take the spotlight from the supporting characters.
In closing, I will leave you with the Wikipedia explanation of a Mary Sue. The proxy character of an author, a Mary Sue is often too underdeveloped while still being the personification of perfection. This type of character easily distances an audience from a character; there is simply nothing to relate to. To I believe that a writer at Anet is living vicariously through Trahearne? Eh, mostly not. Do I believe that Trahearne is shallow, unnecessary, and a detriment to the overall story? I absolutely do.
