tyrianalysis

[tyrianalysis]

On Gods and Arks

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Strange_Ring_Structures “It's unknown what purpose these giant rings once served, but they fell with such a force that they're now half buried in the Orrian soil.”

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Gnarled_Walking_Staff “The glowing text moving along the staff reads "The ark is coming" in Ascalonian” https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Human “These gods are credited with bringing the humans to Tyria and had historically taken a large part in the development of the human race, often using their powers to guide and intervene in events.” https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Avatar_of_Kormir "My eyes have adjusted to the darkness between the stars. I sense celestial movement beyond comprehension...." -Kormir https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Exodus_of_the_Gods Originally, the Gods claimed Arah for themselves. It wouldn't be until 205BE that humans arrived on Arah, and began to spread across it. 204 years later, Abaddon would give magic to the humans. This lead to the bloodiest human war, and the gods took their gift back. A war broke out between Abaddon and the other five Gods, eventually leading to Abaddon being struck down in the Desolation (at the Mouth of Torment), and trapped in the Realm of Torment (alongside the corpse of Arachni, whose power Abaddon had usurped).

I propose that Abaddon was attempting to increase the number of minds working on a project of his. Twice in Guild Wars 2, series of Ascended Celestial trinkets have brought together the concepts of Abaddon, the Eye of Janthir, and celestial movements. Kormir herself mentioned understanding celestial movements when ascending to his throne, and in the Durmand Priory Special Collections, we can see Lord Odran's Map of the All, above Abaddon, with the Eye of Janthir staring down upon him.

During Nightfall, Abaddon exerted his influence to bridge a path between his reality, one of six surrounding Tyria, and Tyria itself. I do not think this was the first time the God of Secrets had planned such a world-hop, or even executed one.

The Gods brought humanity to Tyria from another plane, and this has scarcely been elaborated upon. The only other references to this situation that I could find were on the Gnarled Walking Staff, which further builds upon this notion of an Ark, and lets us know that there were Ascalonian humans who were of the belief that an Ark would come for them, presumably to take them back to their original reality. Given Abaddon's propensity for magic, and treating humans as equals (sharing this with them), rather than keeping the power for himself and his kin, as well as his links to the stars, deep cosmic secrets, and Kormir's comment, I think that it is safe to say that Abaddon was the most driven by the return trip.

The rings around Orr, massive structures dotting the landscape, and marring it with something wholly alien, are said to have fallen from a great height, and become stuck in the Orrian soil. When looking into them in Cursed Shore, we can see that the insides are complex, and largely hollow - these aren't standard structure, and seem to serve a higher purpose. I suspect that these are the remains of The Ark upon which the Gods arrived in Tyria. Balthazar came into this world wielding his father's head in hand, and so a mutiny, or other exhange of power, seems likely. During the confrontation, The Ark was damaged, and its pieces came to rest in Orr. Deprived of their way home, the Gods either released the humans they had on board south of Cantha, or did the same thing with infants/embryos they had in storage.

Dwayna, Melandru, Balthazar, Lyss, Dhuum, Abaddon, Menzies, Ilya, Balthazar and Menzies' father, as well as whatever state the humans were in, came to this world. The standard humans were given a separate initial landmass, and the group of eight remaining Gods underwent drastic changes. Given Abaddon's usurpation of Arachnia, it seems likely that each of the God Realms (Realm of Torment, Underworld, Fissure of Woe, three more, in accordance with the cosmic recurring concept of six) contained a powerful deity within itself, and that most of the Gods took over for them. However, there weren't enough 'slots', roles to fill. Abaddon filled Arachnia's, leaving five more for Lyss, Ilya, Balthazar, Menzies, Dhuum, Dwayna, and Melandru. Melandru and Dwayna slotted in without problems, and by now the slots were running out. Lyss and Ilya fused into the two-bodied Goddess, Lyssa, and Balthazar claimed the final role, leading Menzies to resent him, and wage war on the God of War and Fire.

The Gods are Humans, the only members of their original race with access to technology, and incredibly potent magical abilities, as well as knowledge of their history. They came from another world, lost control of their inter-worldly ship, and were forced to adjust course. Some were content to stay as gods, others attempted to pave the road back home. Where this can go with an increased narrative spotlight upon the Gods, and the underpinnings of reality, is nothing but exciting.

[tyrianalysis]

Guild Wars 2 Living Story Season 3 Speculation

This post will contain information revealed to us via leaks, and an accident made by the ArenaNet developers, relating to the content of the second Guild Wars 2 Expansion. If you do not wish to be spoiled as to the direction the plot will be taking, please do not continue further. Thank you.

As active members of the Guild Wars 2 community, we know much of what the current release cycle is. Approximately every 8 weeks, a new Episode of Living Story Season 3 is released, advancing the plot, opening new geography, and adding a number of new weapon/armour skins to the game. If we follow this pattern out, we can extrapolate (rough) release dates for the remaining Episodes, assuming the cycle stays consistent.

However, it takes a bit more guesswork to figure out how many Episodes there will be, but I believe I have a solid answer. Nine. We know that there are three separate teams working on Living Story Episodes, and that they’re developing Episodes in a round-robin system. Out of the Shadows was developed by Living World Team 1 (hereafter referred to as LW1), Rising Flames by LW2, and Crack in the Ice by LW3. We know that the 4th Episode, as of yet unrevealed, will be developed by LW1, the same team who gave us Bloodstone Fen. So, it seems quite likely that the number of Episodes in the season will be cleanly divisible by 3, in order to give each team an even workload.

Episode 4: January 17

Episode 5: March 14

Episode 6: May 9

Episode 7: July 4

Episode 8: August 29

Episode 9: October 24

And this is why I believe Season 3 will be 9 Episodes, rather than 6 or 12. If we assume that Expansions are to be released biyearly, as seems likely (as evidenced by the remaining number of dragons, the general active-period of an MMO, and adjusting for Season 1 causing Heart of Thorns to be released later), then Expansion 2 is going to be released some time late in 2017, with the holiday season as a probable target. In this case, ANet leaves a window of about 2 months between the end of Season 3, and the launch of Expansion 2, thereby eliminating the drought periods we experienced before and after Heart of Thorns.

I also believe this will let us glean some information about the content of the remaining Episodes, or at least their broad strokes. Assuming that they announce the expansion six months prior to its release (a very middling pattern for the series), then Episode 7 will be released right around the time of the announcement. I believe that in either Episode 6 or 7, the plot will drastically shift, due to an external catalyst, and we will spend the remainder of the season moving towards the location of the next Expansion.

Based on the Crystal Desert leaks, the accidental reveal of the Junundu in the live client, and livestream-developer comments stating that future expansions will be continental in scope (rather than the clipped scope of Heart of Thorns) it is safe to assume that Expansion 2 will deal with Elona, just as Nightfall did in Guild Wars 1. In this case, the catalyst will likely be Palawa’s armies moving north, a cry for help from the Vabbian settlement at Amnoon, Kralkatorrik expanding its territory, or something similarly dramatic. Something dramatic enough to warrant a Point of No Return-style cutscene sequence, followed by logo reveal. Sometime shortly after, ANet will hold a press release, and show off the upcoming Expansion. This seems likely, because of the red herrings being thrown out during Season 3. We’re being led to believe that we’re about to begin a dual-campaign against Primordus and Jormag, when in actuality, we are to be going after Kralkatorrik (just as Trahearne said, in Season 2 Episode 4 - Dragon’s Reach Part 2). If they structure their content as explained above, they can keep the ruse up until the final act of the Season, by which point we will have already learned of the trouble coming from the south.