What we do not really know is what would happen if Tyria were to be cleansed of all technocentric races – those creatures embodying “magic”. Could the Tyrian biosphere exist without them? Would the cycle of the Elder Dragons end with their decline? Scholars within Tyria speculate that there has been at least one cycle of the Elder Dragons. Does this mean that there have been more? If so, what happened to the races inhabiting Tyria prior to them? More importantly, where do new races come from?
One answer is obvious: From the Mists. But the mystery only deepens if we turn to the mystical to explain what science cannot. Inevitably we ask another question: How did they get to the Mists? The reality is that everything about the Mists seems almost exclusively Tyrian. There are, for example, no NPCs speaking of Mars, Venus or any other celestial body to which we can travel “from the Mists”. Thus, the argument is circular and we find ourselves with as many questions asked as answered.
It is interesting to ponder the game’s (at least initial) focus on the land of Orr. Some might argue that Zaithan’s rise in Orr was for the worse, but I believe that his rise played an important part in the restoration of Tyria herself. The trouble in Orr did not begin with Zaithan, but with the once-human Lich, Vizier Khilbron, who invoked a powerful spell banishing the region beneath the waters. You could say, then, that Tyria herself was injured by the work of humans – an invasive force upon Tyria, migrants not natives, whose only interest in the planet/continent is almost exclusively selfish – and that Zaithan’s rise corrected this somewhat. He was only the first stage in the restoration of Orr, however. The Sylvari Trahearne (and, symbolically because he is firstborn, all Sylvari) completes the cycle of Orr’s restoration.
Orr is, in a way, a metaphor for the planet Tyria. It is the work of the various (so-called “intelligent”) races that has led to the current biospherical crisis currently enveloping the planet. Nor is there any sign that the various races realize that they are responsible. Like Glint once did, they resist the Elder Dragons (even attempting to “kill” one). But what they are ultimately trying to preserve is their lifestyle – a lifestyle powered by magic/technology which provides them with the ability to live at odds with the naturally occurring cycles of Tyria herself.
In considering what happened in Orr we are inevitably speculating that the Elder Dragon’s are in fact not only native to Tyria but also completing an important part of the planet’s cycle of renewal. We are also speculating that Sylvari are also a native race of Tyria (not only because they (plants) are restoring Orr) but also because they are immune to Elder Dragon corruption. (TBC)
It is accepted that the Elder Dragons feed on magic, but we don’t really understand the origins of the Dragons themselves or why the presence of magic (supposedly) alone is enough to rouse them from slumber.
Considering that magic has led to the woes of the world of Tyria does go someway toward helping us to understand the origins of the Elder Dragons. Importantly, Tyria may be trying to “stamp out” the presence of magic amongst the sentient races (we could speculate that Tyria is a living entity, a plausible theory which remains as such for now).
What Tyria wants is embodied in the Sylvari.
Now the races no longer live in harmony with Tyria – save for one, of course: the Sylvari (more on this later).
It may be that the Elder Dragons are Tyria’s response to the kitten and plunder of nature wrought by the sentient races. Each Elder Dragon’s rise has resulted in the disruption of said races. The Dwarves were forced to become stone, the Asura to flee above ground; the Krait and the Quaggan have been displaced and so on and so forth. Moreover, the Elder Dragon’s have actually changed the face of Tyria herself. Primordus’s rumblings, for instance, are responsible for seismic activity underground and the (possible) formation of new landmass. Kralkatorik has transformed part of Tyria into crystal. Zaithan has raised the sunken landmass of Orr above the seas once more, swamping populated areas with tsunamis. Just as importantly, the wrath of the Elder Dragons is directed toward every sentient race except for the Sylvari (as Sylvari are beyond the corruption of dragon). Without a doubt, there is a special place in dragon for the hatred of the sentient races within Tyria (remember that the Elder Dragons are thought to be related to the extinction of a number of races who previously possessed advanced technological societies “surprise surprise” elevated to their positions by magic.
I am having trouble logging into the game, so I thought that I would quickly post this whilst the idea remained fresh in my mind.
Is it possible that GW2 is an allegory about the clash of nature and technology? Consider the Elder Dragons as symbols of nature (or Tyria) herself, whilst the sentient races are symbols of technology.
The catalyst for this clash was Abaddon’s amplification and dissemination of magic to the various sentient races of Tyria. Magic, in a sense, is knowledge and knowledge, in a sense, is a realm of opportunity for technological advancement. Thus, with their enhanced understanding of the world around them, the Tyrians began to terra-form Tyria herself.
The main way in which the sentient races performed this is with new tools developed from resources stolen from Tyria herself. They took water, minerals and other living beings in their quest for power – things intended by Tyria to sustain already present naturally occurring processes.
For the sake of this paradigm we can consider that Nature is a form of biotechnology. For example, a waterway serves to water trees which filter the air and in so doing a naturally occurring (when we say naturally occurring we mean to say that the sentient races had no hand in it’s creation) filtration system functions. But the races of Tyria were not content to remain subjects of such systems. These systems, macroscopic in scope, introduce a fair degree of uncertainty for sentient beings who in turn, possessing will and thus volition, are afraid of the “unknown” associated with disturbances to the aforementioned naturally occurring systems.
Abaddon no doubt knew this and in his desire to challenge his fellow “gods” played on the fears of the sentient races, satiating their desire for security by providing them with a way in which they could overcome power imbalances within nature. Thus began conflicts between the races themselves (because one’s first fear is of one’s enemies) and conflicts with Tyria herself (the kitten and pillage of things considered inanimate and lacking sentience).
So then, the gift of magic set in motion a conflict between nature and technology within Tyria.
I wanted to point out that viewing Zaithan lying prone in a body of water doesn’t really mean much at all. Consider that prior to waking another Elder Dragon was occasionally mistaken for a mountain range whilst lying dormant. Zaithan may be dead, he may be badly injured yet nonetheless “undead” or he may have simply returned to a state of hibernation. Whatever you choose to believe, viewing his prone body doesn’t mean anything. Without further clarification from the Devs we just don’t know…
I appreciate the feedback and can safely put my ideas to rest.
I accept that people may not agree with this theory. But for anyone who wishes to delve deeper into the nature of Sylvari and the Tree please feel free to keep reading (not necessarily because I am correct but for the sake of investigation).
My point is not that the Nightmare Court are worshiping Dragon openly, but that they are influenced by it. Of course we are apt to refer to Zaithan as the model corrupter and so measure Sylvari “corruption” in light of this. But we shouldn;t see Zaithan as the model of Dragon corruption. in fact quite the opposite. Think about the Six Dragons: What do they represent?
1) DSD: Water
2) Kralkatorik: Earth (crystal etc etc)
3) Jormag: Ice (frozen deserts and the forces that shape them (wind))
4) Primordus: Lava, fire and seismic activity within Tyria
5) Zaithan: Death and the afterlife of the soul
6) Mordremoth: Plants
Notice anything? Four of the six EDs are involved in inanimate forces of Nature and each can ultimately be said to be loosely associated with a natural force within Tyria. But Zaithan and Mordremoth are the only EDs directly affecting living beings. More importantly, Zaithan is the only ED that actually ENSLAVES sentient beings (when we say sentient beings we talk of higher life forms such as Charr, Humans, Asura etc etc). Why? Because you don’t choose to serve Zaithan, he chooses to reanimate you regardless of whether you CHOOSE to serve him or not. So when we try to use Zaithan’s corruption to understand how the other Dragons empower their servants we forget that his abilities are far weaker than those of the other Dragons. They seduce, Zaithan forces.
To continue the theme of a psychic link between Sylvari, their “Tree” and the Jungle Dragon, think about the conundrum of the Harbinger. Where does he come from? A tree, obviously, but one that we have not seen. The Nightmare Court (offspring of the Pale Tree) sought him out (so he did not come from them). He obviously fell prematurely from a Tree and was swept (as a pod) down a river that separated him geographically from his “Tree” such that it was no longer able to communicate with him. Hence, he has no more than his own memories to guide him. Thus, he is no more able to tell us where he came from than we are to tell him.
The Harbinger demonstrates that the psychic link between “Trees” and and their offspring is affected by their spatial distance. In the same way it is possible that the same goes for Dragons. Thus, Zaithan does not corrupt Dredge in the Shiverpeaks, he corrupts the dead around him. Similarly, Jormag does not corrupt the dead of Orr. In this way it is also possible to explain why removing the Pale Tree seed from the midst of the Jungle Dragon’s minions was enough to free it from enslavement to the Jungle Dragon’s will.
We can be fairly certain that the Sylvari and the Jungle Dragon are linked somehow. The reason I believe that this is the case is when we consider how the Elder Dragons have managed to influence living beings. These beings are often geographically tied to the region in which the ED awoke. Thus, the Norn (among others) are influenced by Jormag; the dead of Orr (humans predominantly) by Zaithan (who awoke from the seas around that area); the Krait, Quaggan etc etc by the DSD; the Charr (and others) by Kralkatorik; the Dwarves, Asura etc etc by Primordus. In some cases, an Elder Dragon may be linked to the creation of a species of living beings. In the case of Primordus, we have the destroyers.
And that’s where the Sylvari come in. We know that the stirrings of each ED are linked to social upheaval amongst groups of sentient beings. Large migrations conflicts etc etc have taken place as they awaken. We also know that the Inquest are aware of the presence of a Jungle Dragon because we see a Zone in the CoE dungeon with hostile plant beings. We also know that no other race comes from the Maguuma Jungle, the resting place of the Jungle Dragon, save for the Sylvari.
The problem that most of us have with any such hypothesis about this is that it leads to the idea that the Pale Tree is a Dragon. Although possible, this is highly unlikely. So how can the Pale Tree (and hence the Sylvari) be the creation/offspring of the Jungle Dragon if they are not aware of him? The answer may lie in the human warrior who stole the Pale Tree seed from the cave. It was removed from an area prepared by creatures such as those observed in CoE and so the psychic link between the seed and the Dragon was severed. It was instead Ventari who was able to “tame” the seed in the same way that the wild vicious nature of animals can be bred and/or trained out of them through the love and affection of human beings.
Of course, this is merely theory and I am sure that many will disagree.
One objection has been that Sylvari are immune to Zaithan’s corruption and hence cannot be servants of the Jungle Dragon, since they would fall sway to him if they were. However, only one Sylvari has died so far according to lore – and that not by natural causes. He was slain. Furthermore, Sylvari are plants, whereas Zaithan corrupts mammals, birds, reptiles etc etc anything with red blood that dies a natural death. Hence, Sylvari would not fall under Zaithan’s sway because they are not red-blooded creatures.
More on this later.
I think that you’ve both brought up a good point which I concede.
My theory about the ED’s being embodiments of Tyria, however, I will continue to speculate about.
It comes as no surprise to the majority of players that there are six Elder Dragons (the “EDs”, being 1) Undeath, 2) Ice, 3) Crystal (or rock), 4) Fire, 5) Water and 6) Plant life (or jungle)) and six human “gods” (whom we shall refer to as “the Six” for the purpose of this discussion). Of course, within Tyria herself although the EDs are living entities, whereas the Six are merely a legend. No player’s character has seen or heard from them in-game in the same way as they witness dragons flying in the sky etc etc. But my post is really how the two forces are seen to collide.
To begin, let us consider that the EDs are in fact embodiments of Tyria herself. Alternatively, you could consider them the forgers of Tyria. Either way, they are closely tied to Tyria herself. Now let us consider the Six. According to human loremasters, the Six brought mankind to Tyria. Where mankind comes from, or even the Six for that matter, is pure speculation. However, we can probably safely conclude that the Six are not Tyrians any more than humans are.
So what does this mean? Consider that humans are an invasive force upon the face of Tyria. The recorded troubles of Tyria began subsequent to the arrival of humans, suggesting that the planet is in fact sentient and/or that the EDs embody that sentience. So why would the EDs begin their work now? And what kind of work is it? I speculate that they are working to protect Tyria (and any races native to it). This isn’t as far fetched as you might imagine. Anyways, I’ve got to go but will return later to continue this. Thanks for reading.
Would it be reasonable to speculate that Tequatl’s rising is related somehow to Zaithan’s (apparent) demise. Previous discussions about the role of the Elder Dragons and their champions within Tyria suggest that the EDs are, in a sense, living embodiments of Tyria herself. That being said, is Tequatl’s invigoration due to either 1) Zaithan restoring himself in a state of “undeath” (essentially using his servant to do his bidding in order to help restore him) or 2) Tequatl somehow realizing his place as the new Power of Undeath within Tyria?
Hi guys,
The Elementalist trait “Written In Stone” does not synergize properly with the Signet of Air. Activating the Signet when this trait is selected leads to approximately 16 seconds of +25% movement speed before it cuts out until recharged. Thanks.