Guild Wars 2

I find following behind a successful meta works well for me. By doing that, DS becomes the easiest map to clear in my opinion.

Wouldn’t Blaine being undead break lore? I can’t think of any naturally occurring undead beings in GW2.

Could Aurene’s purpose be to have domain over all six spheres, therefore cleansing all magic?

Rognik.2579:

DarcShriek.5829:

Amaimon.7823:

Thesis ALPHA OMEGA: Lazarus is Palawa Joko

I think it’s more likely that Lazarus is Livia.

I think Marjory being Lazarus is more likely than either of these theories.

Palawa Joko is still ruling over Elona, last we heard, and I doubt he’s crossed the desert all the way to the Maguuma Jungle – the entire opposite end of the Tyrian continent – just to… what, fight the dragons? Take over the White Mantle? He’s got an undead army, he doesn’t need a living one as well.

Everyone wants to see Livia’s return, and while I don’t doubt that she still is out there in the game, somewhere, waiting for a chance to return, I don’t think she’s using mesmer magic at all (although if she really is Anise, I’m totally wrong on that front). How and when she’ll return, I don’t know, but I don’t want her to be posing as a mursaat to do so.

Can’t be Marjory. She was with us when he showed up. There’s a reason you never see batman and bruce wayne in the same room.

Amaimon.7823:

Thesis ALPHA OMEGA: Lazarus is Palawa Joko

I think it’s more likely that Lazarus is Livia.

Daniel Handler.4816:

draxynnic.3719:

Daniel Handler.4816:

Margonites and Dragon Minions

• corrupted by exposure to magic.
• sterile, with a necessity to convert
• known for consuming a substance
• underwent a physical transformation that grew worse over time.

• Source? I don’t think we’ve ever actually been given how the Margonites became Margonites beyond “Abaddon did it.”
• There’s that line in the Skritt story, but I think that was unreliable narrator. We see Risen laying eggs, Blighting Trees generating minions, and so on… dragon minions clearly can make more of themselves.
• “Known for consuming a substance” is so broad as to be useless. Humans are known for consuming food, water, and oxygen.
• The Margonite wiki page says that, but I’d need a primary source – it’s been a while since I’ve read up on Margonite stuff, and the wiki pages are notoriously unreliable when it comes to lore (it has a LOT of speculation posted as fact). Either way, though, “a physical transformation that grows worse over time” is so broad as to be useless as evidence. Aging counts, for instance.

• I would ask Konig about sources for the wiki page. He wrote/approved it, including the line “Since that time their constant exposure to Abaddon’s power has transformed them into the demons encountered in Elona.”
• If souls are magical then both are known for consuming magic.
• Too be fair there are also breeding pools for demons. That doesn’t stop the vast majority of demons/margonites and minions from being sterile.
• As for physical transformation. They became more demonic and less humanoid. The same trend as dragon corruption (i.e become less flesh and more ice).

DarcShriek.5829:

IF I understand the vision in Omadd’s machine correctly, the dragon’s spheres of influence are part of the eternal alchemy. I interpet as meaning the dragons have been here from the beginning of Tyria, absorbing and then releasing magic. If that’s the case, unless new magic is being created, then all magic should be contaminated with dragon magic. The only other way for non dragon magic to exist is that something is cleansing magic from dragon corruption. Where is new magic being created, or what is cleansing magic.

The magic the Elder Dragons eat is cleansed in their digestion, and exuded as uncorrupted magic when they sleep.

However your idea is theoretically possible if the Elder Dragons don’t cleanse it 100%.

My currently theory is that corruption is just radioactive magic that has been split in specific ways. So like all atoms contain radioactive particles, all magic contains dragon energy.

You’re answer does not appear to make sense. If dragons cleanse magic of dragon corruption, then where does dragon magic come from?

Captain Superbacon.1954:

I’ve been trying to do the Gerent map event in the Tangled Depths to get the last mistward helm piece, but after 5 failures due to not enough people at several different times of day, I get the feeling that the event (and probably the other HoT map events) should be scaled down to reflect the reduced player counts in those areas. I can’t even lure the Gerent out, let alone kill it, with 2-3 people per lane at best.

Most of the people in those areas, including myself some of the time, are just there to get the skill points for their specialization. People aren’t really doing the big events. I know Anet wants to avoid trivializing the events, but the events should at least be possible.

Chak Gerent needs to be looked at. It’s getting more and more difficult to find a group to do it. I’ve gotten what I require from it, but it has to be rough for new players.

IF I understand the vision in Omadd’s machine correctly, the dragon’s spheres of influence are part of the eternal alchemy. I interpet as meaning the dragons have been here from the beginning of Tyria, absorbing and then releasing magic. If that’s the case, unless new magic is being created, then all magic should be contaminated with dragon magic. The only other way for non dragon magic to exist is that something is cleansing magic from dragon corruption. Where is new magic being created, or what is cleansing magic.

I’ve been there a number of times. Never needed a speed boost. Agreed, the last pillar is tough and I miss it at times, but it’s definitely doable with out a speed boost.

Warlord.9074:

Except Queen Jenna isn’t real, its Anise, who also is Livia.

She’s also Lazarus!

I also found Livia’s absence odd. She was true blue Shining Blade. I couldn’t imagine anything that would keep her away.

draxynnic.3719:

In fact, one thing that I’ve observed is that it’s possible that what makes the Elder Dragons so omnicidal is that they have magic addiction like the Bloodstone-crazed enemies in Bloodstone Fen. Glint’s legacy might require that the magic be spread among more than just six so that none of them go mad with power.

Aurene’s importance could be that she’s the one that makes up the minimum for Glint’s legacy to be viable… and she’s the one WE’RE involved with.

Are you implying that their may be other exalted out there each tending their own dragon?

Aaron Ansari.1604:

I’m not 100% sold on E being a member of the Whispers, but it does seem like the most likely possibility. It’d also explain how Caudecus knew about him, since we learned that the White Mantle had an infiltrator.

It is curious, though, how invested E is in Divinity’s Reach. By the tone of his letters, he didn’t just sound interested in beating back the Mantle- there was a thread of hostility, even anger, being directed against Caudecus personally for his ‘betrayal’. If he is Whispers, we just might be seeing a departure from the typically impassive spy stereotype, a welcome bit of characterization.

E also has a strong interest in Lion’s Arch. If I remember correctly it was LA’s issues that brought us together.

Lahmia.2193:

Ider.1276:

Why should he serve a different one? Aurine and Gleam are both Glint children, they are identical bioligicaly. And physically, psychologically and magically Gleam would be far superior than Aurine. Just because Aurine is a baby and Gleam would be 250 years old.

Gleam is most likely dead already. Think about it. Why would the master of peace go to all the trouble in getting one of Glint’s eggs when Glint’s first scion was still alive? The Zepherites would be doing all they could to find and protect the dragon, if it still lived.

Maybe two dragons are needed. Why are there six elder dragons, when one would suffice? Also, maybe the Zephyrites already had accomplished what they needed to do with Gleam.

Who else could have absorbed all that magic? We know no human could.

Ider.1276:

Why should he serve a different one? Aurine and Gleam are both Glint children, they are identical bioligicaly. And physically, psychologically and magically Gleam would be far superior than Aurine. Just because Aurine is a baby and Gleam would be 250 years old.

We don’t really know what Aurene’s role is. Different dragons seem to absorb different magic. We may need a second dragon for balance.

Ider.1276:

DarcShriek.5829:

A 250 year old dragon may be able to do it. The illusion would be necessary because one elder dragon already tried to kill him and another elder dragon killed his mother.

I think we will not meet Gleam in GW2 for one simple reason. He will make Aurine
unimportant. Like, all the LS2 and half of HoT/LS3 are built around Aurine, Anet definitely considers her important to the plot. And then her elder brother just comes in and overshadows her, smarter, more powerful and ready to kick some behinds. That will never happen, cause it will make all that huge Aurine buildup complitely worthless. And that buildup is REALLY huge. Like Aurine is tha last legacy of Glint and some kind of messiah child.
I’m sure Gleam is either dead or corrupted by Kralk by now. And the only way he can appear in the story is as a Kralk’s lieutenant. It would also explaine why noone talks about him – zepherits and brotherhood of the dragon are ashamed of his corruption.

She remains important if Gleam serves a different purpose.

RizelStar.3724:

BordeL.1283:

Are we speaking about this? Cause godkitten i want that skin!

http://imgur.com/a/yQYzq

Yea that’s what we’re talking about, it was the very first thing I noticed when I started the new map.

Is that a Halbeard?

Ider.1276:

Weli.4568:

Or it is an impostor with strong magic placed on them to look like Lazarus. And as we haven’t had Kasmeer with us who can reveal the strong mesmer illusions. It is highly likely that it isn’t Lazarus. Which would make Caudecus just as shocked to see something that shouldn’t have been.

So, an imposter somehow discovered about Caudecus’ aspect gamble, infiltrated secret ritual unnoticed and then absorbed Bloodstone explosion. Personaly I can’t think of any living being in Tiria capable of such thing. And if this imposter is so powerful to make a genuine mursaat illusion, why would he? Everyone hates/distrusts mursaat, even in White Mantle only minority is still faithful to them, while majority just following Caudecus promises of power. Why not create an illusion of a human god, like Balthazar or Grenth?

A 250 year old dragon may be able to do it. The illusion would be necessary because one elder dragon already tried to kill him and another elder dragon killed his mother.

Janthir was closed. The moose out front should have told him.

Jokubas.4265:

I just watched through a majority of the episode and it turned out roughly how I expected. Fairly straightforward, but nothing really new this time, only a tease for next time.

What I didn’t like was how moustache-twirling Caudecus was. It seemed every step of the episode had to rub it in that he was the villain, as if we didn’t already know. I think it would have been a lot more interesting if he was just a rival politician with legitimate concerns, but the wrong way to carry them out. At this point, I’m wondering how he ever got the title “Caudecus the Wise.” It doesn’t even seem like the kind of thing he’d call himself.

Also, Jennah and Anise continue to act ignobly and no one really seems to care. It’s kinda scary that Jennah has the power to just instantly kill people, and her doing it one by one while taunting came across as pretty creepy. The whole “I will detain you against your will for your own safety” thing was disturbing too. The fact that there were infiltrators isn’t even the point. Jennah and Anise continue to openly defy the rule of law and suspend people’s rights whenever they want, which seems to be any time the topic comes up.

Anise was really violent this episode, but at least she got talked down. If Anise had her way, no one would have known where Caudecus went. Then, after having to be talked down again from outright murdering someone who had surrendered, she suspended their right to a trial so she could control their every movement for the foreseeable future.

Laws and rights exist for situations like this. Situations in which people’s immediate reaction is to want some revenge instead of actually judging what the person did and giving them a chance to reform.

Jennah and Anise really don’t seem to like people having free will, and I don’t like that.

IRL laws differ from country to country. To be honest, we don’t know what the laws of Kryta are and what are recognized as rights. To make the claim she ignored the rule of law assumes way too much. Maybe Kryta has a version of the War Time Powers act.

Why do I have a strong urge to belt out “Suddenly … E-more!”

Alga.6498:

What if the fake ‘Lazarus’ is actually Kasmeer?
We haven’t been hearing or seen from Kas for many chapters now, except she’s back in Kryta and trying to get her noble title back.

I believe it might be Kasmeer since she’s a mesmer and as for those who remember in Kessex Hills, during the Tower, she said similar like this,
‘’[i]I have no clothes, this is just an illusion and that’s why I have no dirt on my dress[/i]’’.

Soooo….. why couldn’t she set up an illusion on herself a disguise as Lazarus?
And why did Marjory willingly(?) teamed-up and followed Lazarus..

Think about it!!

Kasmeer and Marjory are evil and our next LS bosses!

Kasmeer would be dead from the bloodstone explosion.

Gleam is Aurene’s big brother.

cptaylor.2670:

I like the Gleam theory.

Could it be Evennia? Seems suspect that we find all of these letters from -E lying around that are clearly there to protect Queen Jenna.

E appears to be a human. He seems to be greatly involved in human affairs. Not just Krytan.

Shiren.9532:

DarcShriek.5829:

Don’t you mean “Gleam”

Who can absorb magic?
Who would be interested in protecting Aurene?
Who would want to keep their identity hidden?

Gleam.

Why keep his identity hidden? Lazarus seems like a bad pick to gain access to Aurence – the last surviving racial enemy of Glint and her legacy, someone relatively unknown to everyone else but mostly thought to be from a villainous and untrustworthy race.

Think about it. No-one alive really knows Lazarus, if they’ve heard of him at all. But they do think the mursaat are the boogeymen and they know the mursaat don’t like Glint. If you want to protect Glint’s child, why pose as her racial enemy? Why not pretend to be a powerful Dwarf, or Zephyrite or even a seer?

Why would Gleam interfere with Caudecus in Bloodstone Fen (the first appearance of the false Lazarus, if that was the false one and not the real one)?

Gleam is Glint’s offspring. Glint has access to the forgotten and the order of the dragon. Glint is also prophetic and has a bit of a history with the Mursaat.

Gleam needed to hide. Primordus made an attempt on his life back in GW1. The OotD or the forgotten may have stepped in and provided cover for him to hide him. Maybe glint knew that if they hid Gleam as Lazarus, the white mantle would blow up a bloodstone to retrieve him. The Lazarus at bloodstone fen was fake lazarus, the switch had been made before that incident. The question is, where did the White Mantle find the body?

Jaken.6801:

mexay.3902:

Few things to note about not-Lazarus:

- He claims to have “more virtuous pursuits”
- Wants to protect Aurene

My thoughts are something to do with Glint, honestly. He knows about Aurene, he knows who we are, etc. Maybe it’s even the Master of Peace?

Very interested, hope it gets answered next episode.

Maybe we got the typical “injecting humanity into a god/demon” trope.

This of course can go several ways, but it’s an interesting thought.

Fake Lazarus is Gleam. Gleam can explain the following questions:
Who can absorb magic?
Who would want to protect Aurene?
Who would know the moment of her birth?
Who would want to keep thier ID secret?

Slowpokeking.8720:

If that Mursaat was not Lazarus, who or what was he?

Lazarus is Gleam.

Also, it looks like Logan realizes he’s been friend zoned.

Don’t you mean “Gleam”

Who can absorb magic?
Who would be interested in protecting Aurene?
Who would want to keep their identity hidden?

Gleam.

GameGuard.8610:

I think new raid wing will be the portal north in brisbain maybe

I’d look at Bloodstone Fen first.

I can’t imagine Livia being the penitent. What does she regret doing? I think if the raid is based on the white mantle story, it would be a fortress designed to hold someone that regrets their role with the white mantle. Possibly Saul or a mursaat. Could it be where Lazarus has been hiding out all these years?

Tyria uses chopsticks.

Amaimon.7823:

DarcShriek.5829:

Tanner Blackfeather.6509:

Tyria is Lazarus’ home planet. You know whose home planet it’s not? Humans.

Then the humans should die on their home planet.

Didn’t we wreck that place already?

It’s never really been stated. We don’t know why they left home. We only know that they left with their gods. Humans could be the mursaat of their world.

I suspect that if Livia is still alive, we’ll hear from her next week. As a former head of the shining blade, there is no way she would not take part in the queens defense of a large scale white mantle attack.

Tanner Blackfeather.6509:

Tyria is Lazarus’ home planet. You know whose home planet it’s not? Humans.

Then the humans should die on their home planet.

Arden.7480:

Have you a source of this, or is it just a theory?

There are tons of sources, most are in the game. For instance, the elder races, built the bloodstone 10,000 years ago to stop the dragons. When the gods arrived, the bloodstones were here. Plus Arah, where the gods eventually made there home was on top of Zhaitan.

It would be a good idea for you to take a look at the wiki instead of arguing with everyone.

Arden.7480:

DarcShriek.5829:

The harbinger of Woe makes me wonder once again, where did gods and humans come from, why did they leave and why did they choose Tyria?

And why do the dragons come after them? We have a lot of questions about origins of our world. If Gods are not in the Mists, they have to be in the another, unknown place… This is really fascinating.

The dragons were here long before the humans and their gods.

I don’t think we should have to log in at all. Why not just give us the rewards smply for owning the game.

The harbinger of Woe makes me wonder once again, where did gods and humans come from, why did they leave and why did they choose Tyria?

I don’t see Lazarus involving himself in this event. He’s already stated that it’s beneath him.

Aurene is identified as a female dragon, so she has to be good. Only dragons that are identified as male can be evil.

You make it sound like the other races are a bunch of bullies and that the humans have no choice but to do as the other races demand.

Palador.2170:

DarcShriek.5829:

As norn don’t believe in the formal Hierarchy that humans have, it’s reasonable for norn to assume that if Queen Jenna can’t maintain her rule, then she doesn’t deserve to rule. The only outside race that may have a stake in this would be the charr. If they value the peace treaty, the might be compelled to step in.

While you have a point about the norn views, I think that’s only for a fair contest to her ability to rule. Otherwise, it would be fair to say that the norn deserved to lose to Jormag, or to be driven from their homes by the Molten Alliance. They clearly don’t agree.

If Caudecus was to take over through political means, they would likely feel it’s her fight alone. But he’s not planning to “play fair” and meet her on the grounds of who’s the best leader, he’s planning on attacking her. The norn have no problems with defending an ally that’s under attack.

Now, as to the other races? Well, don’t forget that the White Mantle (posing as bandits) have strong ties to both the Nightmare Court and the Inquest, and there’s clear signs that they support the Separatists as well. If the White Mantle rises to power, threats to the sylvari, asura, and charr all grow.

Oh, and Lion’s Arch would be in trouble as well. That city used to be part of Kryta, and I don’t think anyone assumes that Caudecus would allow it to remain separate and free from his control. The Lion Guard would have to pull back to defend the city, so there goes all the guards on the trade routes. I’m sure the Sons of Svanir would appreciate that.

In short, if Caudecus and the White Mantle following him win, all the major races are going to have a harder time of it.

Care to explain why the norn didn’t interfere in the Charr/Human war then?

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Amaimon.7823:

So where her guards fail, her mesmer magic saves her

This. Besides S1, we also have Caudecus’ Manor, where the queen is kidnapped and only survives thanks to her own magic, and the novel Edge of Destiny, where she uses her power to trick away the enemies besieging the fortress she was trapped in. Without her mesmer training, she’d be dead three times over (and Ebonhawke would’ve been wiped out by the Branded). In a world where a monarch faces those kinds of risks, it absolutely makes sense that they should be able to defend themselves.

While not her Mesmer ability but Anise’s. When Scarlet took over the jubilee, she used an illusion of the queen to trick scarlet.

As norn don’t believe in the formal Hierarchy that humans have, it’s reasonable for norn to assume that if Queen Jenna can’t maintain her rule, then she doesn’t deserve to rule. The only outside race that may have a stake in this would be the charr. If they value the peace treaty, the might be compelled to step in.

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

DarcShriek.5829:

Braham is right about one thing though. Caudecus is none his concern. It’s entirely a human matter.

He’s an outspoken opponent of the charr-human truce. If he succeeds and rules Kryta, it will most likely lead to another Charr-Human conflict, or at the very least cease all cooperation between the two races. This would negatively affect all of Tyria, especially with Jormag en Primordus on our doorstep and the Pact mostly in ruins. We can’t afford to be divided.

And even IF Kryta being lead by an evil dictator would somehow miraculously not affect the rest of Tyria in any way, if Braham doesn’t care about other people’s problems, then why should we give a kitten about his?

So if one country is putting the wrong person in charge of their government, then the other countries have an obligation to prevent it?

windyweather.1238:

Ok. So whatever AFAIK means. I get it. BTLDTITS
I don’t see any note in the achievement or wiki to that effect.
Sigh…

I’m surprised the censor didn’t kick in here.

What is the evidence that Caudecus would take the humans out of the fight against the EDs? Also, we shouldn’t kill the remaining EDs, just killing two is causing problems with magic.

There is no evidence that Eir would involve herself in this. You’re just making stuff out out of nothing.

JTGuevara.9018:

I don’t understand all this Braham hate. The PC over-stepped the bounds and deserved it. Simple as that. Also, all this talk of killing off a character just because you don’t like him and he doesn’t obey you is ridiculous. The PC has no authority outside of the Pact.

Another thing, there’s just a lack of character development with the PC. The PC is the typical hero character. What are the PC’s dreams, background, struggles, flaws, addictions, traits, quirks, habits? The only development you see with the PC is in the first half of the personal story, and with….Aurene.

In a way, I understand why. Since this is an MMO where thousands of people play, the PC’s character development has to be as uniform to satisfy as many players as possible.

The PC has no authority with in the pact either.

Braham is right about one thing though. Caudecus is none his concern. It’s entirely a human matter.

Baldrick.8967:

AliamRationem.5172:

Djinn.9245:

ProtoGunner.4953:

Are people really that helpless or are they too clouded to open the wiki or google it? It’s more work to begin a new thread than google it to find out within about 1 or 2 minutes how this map works.

There are a number of people who have very limited time to play, and many MMOs that you CAN just get in and play without having to consult outside sources. If you only have 1 hour to play you want to spend that time playing the game, not reading about playing the game. And additionally there are probably people who will go to an empty DS and simply conclude that it is just not popular or not working. Why would they even think that they have to look it up online to “find out how it works”. Shouldn’t it just work or be made clear from within the game?

If you only have an hour to play it wouldn’t matter anyway. DS takes longer than that. Play on a day when you have more time.

Or accept that the game design doesn’t allow you to ever complete that portion of the game and be left feeling deflated.

A lot of people with jobs have ‘only’ an hour to play at any one time- perhaps after putting the kids to bed and their own bedtime. Hence why DS is such a bad design. The map itself should always be accessable to be able to complete it and grab the mastery points.

Locking content behind ‘mega’ events, timers, having to search outside sources, bringing in masteries locked behind all sorts of ‘content’ that looks like it fell off SMB8’s cutting room floor, etc to name but a few, puts people off.

Not everyone wants cookie cutter games that fit your extremely limited schedule. It’s not bad design.