[Huge Potential Spoilers] Palawa Joko's Plot!

This is extremely deep and detailed, but I'm going to simplify it down! Hope you enjoy my head-canon, but it's too coincidental!

I'm proposing the idea: Palawa Joko has re-awakened Zinn in order to terraform the entire world with a new Scarab Plague, to rule over a full Desolation.

I know, it sounds crazy. But to begin, let's take a look at the History of Zinn. At some point in Zinn's life:

"A gifted golemancer, Zinn built several golems, including M.O.X. However, his most noticeable work was the creation of P.O.X.'s Reactor Blast. He was sentenced to 10 years of banishment from asuran lands for unintentional attempted regicide of human rulers, which had involved the assault of the golems he had invented. Around this time Zinn had been in contact with Palawa Joko who had tricked him, which the golemancer considered the low point of his career."

From this, it's clear that Palawa Joko and Zinn definitely knew each other, and from the lore entry, they're at odds but have similar understandings. The next part delves deeper into the Scarab Plague. From a Journal in GW1, an NPC claims:

"This plague is tearing the city apart. It seems to strike without any sort of logic...young and old alike are devastated by its effects. Those who still survive burn down entire buildings in hopes of cleansing the plague's dire corruption, but it seems hopeless. Word has reached me of a terrible new stage of this plague, and people are claiming that bugs escape from within the boils. I hope that these are only delusions brought on by the plague's effects, but I am beginning to wonder if it could be true...."

The bugs escaping from within the boils seem very similar to the bug that crawls across the screen at the end of the Episode 2 Trailer. That's clearly there for a reason, and with so many mentions of 'bugs' and placing a base within Fahrunur, it's clear that the Scarab Plague is returning once more. Furthermore, in Fahrunur, we saw an Asura base, Inquest-related, which ties directly back to Zinn's quote earlier, relating to 'Palawa Joko who had tricked him'. In this context, it means that Zinn founded the Inquest, as well. Now, to the juicy part:

Draconis Mons.

On its own, you probably remember Balthazar and Primordus. However, deeper down in the narrative, we had a lovely story about the Druids and Zinn. In this arc, Zinn went down this route:

"Attempting a new beginning after being exiled thrice, the golemancer developed a terraforming device. However, its use angered local druids, but Zinn ignored their protests and instead captured four ancient druids for experimentation to empower the device. The remaining druids returned with reinforcements and slaughtered Zinn and the rest of the colonists of Rata Arcanum in 1175 AE."

Zinn found the formula for terraforming, it just needed refining. In this case, if Joko has re-Awakened Zinn, this refinement should've happened by now. Now, I've highlighted a very special year for one reason. I went to the Movement of the World to find a correlation with events, and well:

"1175 AE: Rata Arcanum is wiped out by the druids after Zinn attempted to terraform Draconis Mons. Elona falls to Palawa Joko. The Order of the Sunspears are wiped out."

Is it really a coincidence that these events happened in the same year? Of course, this is just speculation, but I suspect that we may have links to the Druids again in the new map, and if we do, it just increases the evidence that the Draconis Mons storyline was hiding in plain sight. In addition to the above, when we locate Fahrunur in the storyline, what do we interact with?

"Interacting with the Rata Novan Terminal..."

And who founded Rata Novus? Zinn.

And a further line from Rox: "It looks like the tech from Rata Novus. Maybe this was one of Zinn's labs."

Anyway, I'll leave you all to engage with this! <3

that's very nice speculation but if Zinn was undead, why Joko needed Taimi to activate the gates?

@Sublimatio.6981 said:that's very nice speculation but if Zinn was undead, why Joko needed Taimi to activate the gates?

Potentially, and this is extreme speculation: Zinn was used, but has been thrown aside for now? Or something happened? It's loose but it's the only sticking point for this speculation ngl. ;P

I don't know if we'll see Zinn again, but I don't see any reason why we wouldn't have more lore collectables scattered about in this Inquest facility. I mean, who knows, perhaps the scientist we're looking for in this patch is an awakened Zinn that's managed to break somewhat free of Joko's mind control. Similar to Koss.

I find it more interesting that the trailer didn't tease at the mysterious figure from last patch, but I imagine she will have at least a minor role if not be the end boss of this episode. She didn't seem like an extremely important character unless they're going to use her to tie her in to a patch set in Kourna. I'm not too familiar with the lore though so that may not fit.

I kind of feel like we'll be resolving the Joko plot in an episode near his tomb below Vabbi, perhaps after Kourna. And then maybe moving back to a Kralk-centric plot. If that leaks are true, and I'm personally hoping for Cantha but not counting on it, then that would leave them room to do most of the other new episode maps in the legion homelands that received updates.

Really hoping we get to finish unveiling the map of Orr though, like Scavenger's and that big watery area between Siren's and the Cursed Shore. Weren't the artesian waters something significant which is what drew the gods to that location?

Didn't we last leave Zinn in the Fire Island chains? Not saying he couldn't have gone to Elona, or Joko somehow crossed the waters to the islands, but it still seems extremely unlikely.

@Rognik.2579 said:Didn't we last leave Zinn in the Fire Island chains? Not saying he couldn't have gone to Elona, or Joko somehow crossed the waters to the islands, but it still seems extremely unlikely.

He already went to Elona, before going to Rata Arcanum. If Joko knew where Rata Arcanum was, he could've manipulated the Druids or another power to kill Zinn to enact his devious plans.

Wasn't Zinn eaten by Webby?

Zinn was killed by the druids and has a grave in a cave in the Draconic Mons. I don't think we know who put Zinn in a grave or if the druids just left his corpse there untouched (I might be wrong)

Also we don't know if Zinn was in Elona, we only know he communicated with Joko - it could've been via golem messengers, mails or other means. But we also know some inquest were awakened so those with the knowledge of Rata Arcanum and Zinn's corpse, allowed Joko to learn about it's whereabouts.

The first major issue of this theory is that if Zinn was killed like 99.9999% of all other asura, then his body would have been cremated by the golems. The asura cremate their dead - the sole known exception to this is Blimm, who had fallen out of Eternal Alchemy beliefs. The cremation is part of the "return to Eternal Alchemy" and is a pre-surface tradition, which Zinn and the Novans had fully wished to retain.

He has a tomb and plaque in Draconis Mons, but we have no indication of a corpse being there. No corpse = no awakened. Not to mention Zinn leaving a corpse would be fairly weird, if not outright lore breaking.

Second would be that what caused the Desolation was not the Scarab Plague (the Scarab Plague didn't touch the landscape, it infected people alone via having scarabs escape from boils in people's bodies, indicating that scarab eggs had somehow found their way within Istani citizens and hatched within them all along their bones given the warped nature of said bones found in GW1); the Desolation was caused by Abaddon's continued influence in the world. But let's argue you just mean a general "desolate landscape".

Joko showed that he's wanting a living-and-undead kingdom, so he's not after genocide.

@Twyn.7320 said:From this, it's clear that Palawa Joko and Zinn definitely knew each other, and from the lore entry, they're at odds but have similar understandings. The next part delves deeper into the Scarab Plague. From a Journal in GW1, an NPC claims:

Definitely no similar understandings. Let's pull up that interaction for you:

The job. That's what started this whole fiasco. My entire business has been built on the backs of eccentric clients, so it never even occurred to me to turn away the stranger when he appeared. He had a most curious request, but again, I was not about to refuse a paying customer, so I obliged the dastardly fellow. He even brought along a custom power crystal to be used in the construction of a golem. This, perhaps, should have raised a red flag, but free parts are free parts, especially when I can still charge full price. But I swear, had I known the extent of the evil to which I was contributing, I would have halted construction immediately, or at least built in more safeguards. As it was, I labored for weeks on end to complete what in my hubris I believed was my ultimate masterpiece. But in my hour of greatness, that masterpiece became my downfall.

As I set aside my tools and turned to survey my work, the R.O.X. golem powered up unexpectedly. To my horror, the great beast snatched me up and the stranger appeared from out of nowhere to inform me that I was now under his control. He left R.O.X. to watch me as I continued working on two other commissioned works... but with certain modifications. In due time, I completed these other two golems in the image of R.O.X., their true master! However, even with R.O.X. watching my every move, I was able to outwit the malevolent machine. The great Zinn shall not be slighted without retribution. I prolonged completion while secretly modifying one of my other projects, the M.O.X. golem. He is now my greatest creation. I was even able to synchronize multiple power crystals for a single purpose. Yes, M.O.X. is the first dual-core golem in existence. Unfortunately, I had to salvage parts from an earlier golem named G.O.X., including his power crystal. I replace it with an older, slightly damaged crystal of questionable origins, which has caused some strange behaviors, but that is beside the point.

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Golem_User_Manual

Zinn was hired to build a powerful golem, no questions asked. And once he completed that golem, Zinn was taken hostage and forced to make two more powerful golems.

There was no understanding, no temporary alliance. It was a paid commission and Zinn was simply uncaring enough to do the job.

@Twyn.7320 said:The bugs escaping from within the boils seem very similar to the bug that crawls across the screen at the end of the Episode 2 Trailer. That's clearly there for a reason, and with so many mentions of 'bugs' and placing a base within Fahrunur, it's clear that the Scarab Plague is returning once more.

Eh, that bug on the screen's more likely to just be there as part of the "A Bug in the System" title. A play on words.

It should be noted that the bugs talked about in Daybreak often refer to the "dark ritual" that forces people out of the Mordant Crescent Great Hall and Palawadan should the metas fail (or succeed).

Success: You've crushed the enemy, but they've already cast their dark ritual. Grab supplies while you still can!Failure: The Mordant Crescent completed their plague ritual and forced a retreat!

Appears with both metas.

Granted there is suggestion (just Taimi's one line) that Joko is looking to expand his Scarab Plague-mimicking magic, but Joko already has such magic is something people tend to forget.

@Twyn.7320 said:Furthermore, in Fahrunur, we saw an Asura base, Inquest-related, which ties directly back to Zinn's quote earlier, relating to 'Palawa Joko who had tricked him'. In this context, it means that Zinn founded the Inquest, as well. Now, to the juicy part:

The Inquest did not establish the base. They found it. Just like in Rata Arcanum. The Inquest were not founded by Zinn but by a much more recent group from Rata Sum.

@Twyn.7320 said:

"

1175 AE:

Rata Arcanum is wiped out by the druids after Zinn attempted to terraform Draconis Mons.

Elona falls to Palawa Joko.

The Order of the Sunspears are wiped out."

In all honesty? It probably is. It's exactly 150 years before GW2 began. ArenaNet loves their round numbers.

Furthermore, 1175 AE is just when Joko finished conquering Elona, he had began in 1135 AE - 60 years after Nightfall.

I'll be pretty surprised if we get druids in any non-Elonian map, TBH. They were confined to Maguuma in GW1, and in the time between games they remained confined to Central Tyria. The furthest we've any evidence of druids being is Deidra's Steps in Mount Maelstrom - but the same druid who says that was his garden, says all druids were called to Draconis Mons (either to fight off and revert Zinn's actions, or for Primordus, forget which).

@Twyn.7320 said:"Interacting with the Rata Novan Terminal..."

And who founded Rata Novus? Zinn.

And a further line from Rox: "It looks like the tech from Rata Novus. Maybe this was one of Zinn's labs."

Yeah, it was made very clear in Heart of Thorns that Zinn had established a number of underground labs in various places so that Rata Novans could observe and study "surface dwellers". Fahranur is one of those labs. But this isn't telling a tie between Zinn and Joko - the Rata Novans died out somehow, apparently even those who escaped Rata Novus and Rata Arcanum, and the only Awakened asura we see are recent Inquest. And we know the Inquest hold no ties to Joko given how when the Awakened were wiping out the Inquest, the Inquest thought they were risen - which indicates so little interaction that the asura couldn't see the pretty obvious differences.

@Twyn.7320 said:

@Rognik.2579 said:Didn't we last leave Zinn in the Fire Island chains? Not saying he couldn't have gone to Elona, or Joko somehow crossed the waters to the islands, but it still seems extremely unlikely.

It seems pretty unlikely to me that Joko could influence the druids in Draconis Mons, and we know from the recordings that it was the druids who killed Zinn. Even then, the golems had buried Zinn, which as per first paragraph, heavily indicates cremation was enacted. No Zinn corpse, no Awakened Zinn.

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:The first major issue of this theory is that if Zinn was killed like 99.9999% of all other asura, then his body would have been cremated by the golems. The asura cremate their dead - the sole known exception to this is Blimm, who had fallen out of Eternal Alchemy beliefs. The cremation is part of the "return to Eternal Alchemy" and is a pre-surface tradition, which Zinn and the Novans had fully wished to retain.

He has a tomb and plaque in Draconis Mons, but we have no indication of a corpse being there. No corpse = no awakened. Not to mention Zinn leaving a corpse would be fairly weird, if not outright lore breaking.

This. Then there's also this:

M.O.X.: NA-TURE SPIR-ITS RE-ACT NEG-A-TIVE-LY TO PROJ-ECT. 100% OF RES-I-DENTS OF RA-TA AR-CAN-UM DE-CEASED. IN-CLUD-ING ZINN.M.O.X.: GOL-EM BRI-GADE LEFT WITH-OUT BOSS. EN-GAGE ZINN'S FU-NER-ARY IN-STRUC-TIONS AND FOL-LOW LAST PRO-TO-COLS.https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/M.O.X.

And the fact that there's a tiny little urn on top of the memorial stone in the Burial Chamber of the Golemancer's Tomb.

It's a really nice theory otherwise though. I enjoyed reading it. :)