Thoughts on All Or Nothing: Requiem [SPOILERS]

So I'd like to think what you all thought of the newly released short story available here https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/january-29-2019/ and how it made you feel? I think it answers a LOT of interesting questions and I absolutely loved getting this new insight on Rytlock and how his mind works. Can't wait for the others.

Awesome, very nice surprise.

More from Ruinbringer, more on how Rytlock got Sohothin and why he wanted it back so badly. More Balthazar interaction and general world building. Logan being a bro.

Also confirmation that Kralkatorrik is back in the Mists now instead of elsewhere on Tyria - People thought he would head to another part of Elona or to the Charr Lands where he awoke, but it seems that's not the case - And giving more grounds to the theory that he could just consume the entirety of the Mists which definitely classifies him as more than a Tyria-level threat.

I also love the new side they brought up with Rytlock - his cubs. And gave him more character depth in general. I wonder who his cubs are?

I would absolutely love a Blood Legion Homelands expansion now. I got to meet Imperator Ruinrbinger!

It's great to have a bridge between episodes, and to hear the perspective of a different character when it comes to THAT ending. There's some excellent details here too, brings back memories of reading Edge of Destiny.Notable details:

1. We just found out how Rytlock obtained Sohothin.
2. Rytlock has CUBS.
3. It is official that the Commander and Caithe saw Aurene as their daughter.
4. Rytlock saw/sees Destiny's Edge and Dragon's Watch as his family/Warbands.
5. Runtlock.
6. Rytlock Brimstone. Has. CUBS???
7. Logan and Rytlock's bromance is alive and well.It also appears, with the inclusion of the latter half of the story taking place elsewhere, that we will not be picking up directly where we left off, and instead have a minor time-skip, which makes sense, but it's fantastic they've included these stories to bridge that gap so it won't feel so sudden. I can't wait to see the ones for Caithe and Zafirah.

Zafirah's one is especially interesting given she goes on about a prophecy but she wasn't actually there to hear about it because she was off gathering the Zaishen, and just more Balthazar stuff in general. I'll look forward to hers.

Weird and dodgy Rytlock artwork aside, i enjoyed what i read so far. Much better than that god awful rubbish we got last time they did short stories on the website. This worked much better and the jumping between links whilst a tad annoying, in the main worked pretty well

@Randulf.7614 said:Weird and dodgy Rytlock artwork aside, i enjoyed what i read so far. Much better than that god awful rubbish we got last time they did short stories on the website. This worked much better and the jumping between links whilst a tad annoying, in the main worked pretty well

agreed, the only downside is the artwork, thought as if it were for some kind of girlish diary ...

we now have some background on the personality of Bangar Ruinbringer.

@ThatOddOne.4387 said:

Also confirmation that Kralkatorrik is back in the Mists now instead of elsewhere on Tyria - People thought he would head to another part of Elona or to the Charr Lands where he awoke, but it seems that's not the case - And giving more grounds to the theory that he could just consume the entirety of the Mists which definitely classifies him as more than a Tyria-level threat.

its seems to me a prepared ground for Gods come back in next episode.

Zafirah interests me sooo much!! I hope she will give more insight to Balthazar and how he was before he went rogue, and will give him more personality, than that Balthazar just likes war, he must have had some good sides too, as everyone does.

Thank You Tom Abernathy and the Narrative Team! Such stories are always welcome!!

Well, I forgot to give my compliment to the Narrative Team. Excellent work folks!

Betting Caithe's will be last and reveal a hint about the upcoming episode. Perhaps this is their way of revealing what Aurene told Caithe her purpose was and why she was so humbled. I feel like that would be kind of a giveaway to the events of the next episode though, but if they save it for last maybe it will be more used as a tie in to be less surprising or something? I don't know.

I think Caithe's will certainly be the most interesting in relation to the current story though.

Rhytlock's was neat I guess. It's interesting to get lore on Sohothin and now I want to meet his cubs. That's the most I took away from it. lol

I almost would rather have Taimi than Zafirah though. I just feel like they're really trying to push #teamZafirah and I've just never cared that much about her character. Then again I guess she was just introduced last episode. And perhaps her being able to sense Balthazar in Aurene could be used as part of this narrative. Maybe even hint that she feels his presence still.

Or just spend the entire time thinking, "These idiots killed my god, and now Tyria AND reality is doomed." Or maybe, given her distance from the blast radius she will give some insight into what it looked like when we were knocked back.

Probably just lots of pouting about Balthazar though. Bleh.

Kind of wish we would have gotten one of these a few episodes ago from Joko's perspective. That would have been an interesting read. lol

@ugrakarma.9416 said:

@"ThatOddOne.4387" said:Also confirmation that Kralkatorrik is back in the Mists now instead of elsewhere on Tyria - People thought he would head to another part of Elona or to the Charr Lands where he awoke, but it seems that's not the case - And giving more grounds to the theory that he could just consume the entirety of the Mists which definitely classifies him as more than a Tyria-level threat.

i think that's just your headcanon bias talking

i mean serious, everytime the mists get mentioned ppl go "humen gawds retern?!?" , there's more in the mists then the human gods, ya know

So the most interesting things to me are:

1. Flame Legion are the ones who recovered Sohothin, I find this interesting as a) how did they learn it was there, b) how did they get a squad to the Ring of Fire and back given this would likely take place ~1300 AE? Only took 7 years for them to reveal how Rytlock got Sohothin.
2. I love finally getting some more details on Bangar Ruinbringer other than "he's a wildcard who hates humans". It seems he's rather insecure about his own standing, at least towards Rytlock. This reminds me of a brief speculation I read that Rytlock could be Bangar's son / brother or something... While reading the promotion scene, I wondered if Bangar was one of the cubs that mocked Rytlock as Runtlock.
3. Really enjoyed getting into Rytlock's mind about it, and getting more interaction with Balthazar in the Mists. Would have loved a bit more details on his Mists journeys though; it's clear that he had a lot of travel besides meeting Glint and Balthazar now, at least.
4. Rytlock has cubs, plural, and while the youngest is still in the fahrar, the oldest is a son who's out and about. I have to wonder... could this be Rox's secret relations to Rytlock? Rytlock stated that he occasionally checks up on his cubs; in Season 1 he shows uncommon worry for Rox (telling her to be safe when ordering her to go after Scarlet), and in Season 2 he mentions knowing her since she was a cub. She doesn't seem to be as old as Rytlock, so maybe she's his second eldest cub? I do recall that original drafts had Rox being Rytlock's step-sibling, but it could have changed.

As interesting as this one was, I'm far more curious about Zafirah's and Caithe's stories. Kind of wish we got more of them, in all honesty.

So I've read the story and viewed the artwork for the first story. My friend pointed out that Rytlock looks like a Skritt in that art piece so now he shall forever be known as Skrittlock. :V

Silliness aside, I thought it was a well-told story. It really doesn't make me more sympathetic towards Rytlock though. If anything, it's made me less so. For all this talk about warbands and families and having cubs, he didn't (and in my opinion still doesn't) act like someone who has their priorities straight. It was all about him and his life. To Hell with everyone else. He talks about how important Destiny's Edge was to him, how he was loyal to them, how they were his warband/family yet it was him who decided to dissolve them and (from my perspective) abandon them in LWS3.1. It was him who decided to peace out and form Dragon's Watch with the Commander. He flees and retreats at actual failure rather than picking himself back up and pushing on, rather than check on those who managed to survive the confrontation with Mordremoth. I don't find that respectable in fictional characters or in real life.

Rytlock being bullied as a cub is no excuse or justification for his behavior either. Instead of rising above his experiences, he let them control him. In an ironic twist, he kind of became a bully himself in the process, from my perspective. Him holding onto that tough guy shtick even at the end of the story is also concerning as I certainly think that's a harmful social byproduct of him being bullied. By making it about him, by having this tough guy/gruff facade up all the time, he hurt everyone around him: Destiny's Edge, Dragon's Watch, his cubs, etc.

Sure, he's admitting now that the whole thing with Balthazar was his fault but many of us know what they say about hindsight. The metaphorical horse is already out of the barn. Why wasn't he thinking of his cubs or Destiny's Edge - his supposed warband at the time - when he went after Sohothin, when he was stomping around the Mists trying to find that dumb sword and reignite it? (This is meant to be a rhetorical question, by the way. It's stated several times in the story why he wasn't thinking about anything or anyone else. I even mentioned why a few times in my own post.)

If stories - good stories at that - are supposed to entice a reaction from the reader, then I give kudos to whoever wrote this because it did just that. I didn't like Rytlock before this story and I hate him even more now after reading this.

Hopefully the next two stories will be just as good considering they're also for characters I don't care for.

( For those of you who are in the pro-Rytlock camp who happen to read this and want to try to change my mind, don't. I don't mind discussing things I may have missed/overlooked in this story but my negative opinion and loathing for Rytlock as a character won't be changing. Save your keystrokes and time. )

Sry, I can not resist to come and praise again, the format of this content is really good.

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:

1. Flame Legion are the ones who recovered Sohothin, I find this interesting as a) how did they learn it was there, b) how did they get a squad to the Ring of Fire and back given this would likely take place ~1300 AE? Only took 7 years for them to reveal how Rytlock got Sohothin.

Anyway this really fit very much on Flame Legion theme of going after "fire magic" and would add c) Why was Sohotin in the Ring of Fire? There is a potential interesting sub-history here: did someone reignite her on the volcano? Does the Volcano have magical properties that could be potentiated with it? Someone bring it to create some powerful fire magic stuff?

Indirectly they answered a question I made here on another topic, if Sohotin is so powerful, why did Rytlock simply not lend her to the commander again?

@ugrakarma.9416 said:

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:

1. Flame Legion are the ones who recovered Sohothin, I find this interesting as a) how did they learn it was there, b) how did they get a squad to the Ring of Fire and back given this would likely take place ~1300 AE? Only took 7 years for them to reveal how Rytlock got Sohothin.

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Prince_Rurik

Great story! Love reading about the lore. It got me thinking though when he mentioned Kralk going off to the mists and if we beat him all of Tyria will be gone. What happens if Kralk is beaten in the Mists? What happens then??

@ugrakarma.9416 said:

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:

1. Flame Legion are the ones who recovered Sohothin, I find this interesting as a) how did they learn it was there, b) how did they get a squad to the Ring of Fire and back given this would likely take place ~1300 AE? Only took 7 years for them to reveal how Rytlock got Sohothin.

Rurik had it when he died at Hell's Precipice (he had a FDS with him, and from Ghosts of Ascalon, Adelbern did not take away Sohothin when Rurik got exiled). So it makes sense it'd be at the Ring of Fire.

Nothing suggests Sohothin lost its flame after Rurik's death.

@ugrakarma.9416 said:Indirectly they answered a question I made here on another topic, if Sohotin is so powerful, why did Rytlock simply not lend her to the commander again?

Because the sword was his. You see how obsessed he was with the sword, to the point of sacrificing everything that was dear to him, and now that he realized what was important, he basically says screw the high legions and their military mindset, and cast the sword aside, I wonder if this means Logan will wield it now.

@Pax.3548 said:

@ugrakarma.9416 said:Indirectly they answered a question I made here on another topic, if Sohotin is so powerful, why did Rytlock simply not lend her to the commander again?

Honestly, if anyone wields it I would place bets on Zafirah given that it belonged to her beloved god. And who knows, maybe it will secretly be a teaser for thieves getting off-hand sword or something for their next elite spec.

But, as I can't imagine it will help us against Kralk, and Taimi is on her deathbed, and Braham just upgraded to his mother's bow... I just don't really see anyone getting it that makes more sense than Zafirah.

I suppose Caithe could, since the story seemingly always circles back to her for some reason.

I guess Logan could as well, but it would mean more to Zafirah than it would Logan probably.

@derd.6413 said:

@ugrakarma.9416 said:

@"ThatOddOne.4387" said:Also confirmation that Kralkatorrik is back in the Mists now instead of elsewhere on Tyria - People thought he would head to another part of Elona or to the Charr Lands where he awoke, but it seems that's not the case - And giving more grounds to the theory that he could just consume the entirety of the Mists which definitely classifies him as more than a Tyria-level threat.

Correct but in the context of the current story they are the story elements most connected to the Mists and the most mentioned, so it stands to reason if they are used it will be connected to the Mists rather than something new coming out of left field. Something new with the power to make a difference against Kralkatorrik at that, which would be even worse from the storytelling perspective (Why have we only just learned of this power now etcetc), sure they could introduce something new and Mists based as a response to Kralkatorrik sitting and eating up the Mists incessantly, but from a narrative point of view that would be strange when there is an already previously established force that could fulfill the same narrative requirement.

@ThatOddOne.4387 said:

@derd.6413 said:

@ugrakarma.9416 said:

@ThatOddOne.4387 said:Also confirmation that Kralkatorrik is back in the Mists now instead of elsewhere on Tyria - People thought he would head to another part of Elona or to the Charr Lands where he awoke, but it seems that's not the case - And giving more grounds to the theory that he could just consume the entirety of the Mists which definitely classifies him as more than a Tyria-level threat.

Perhaps but even then it doesn't mean their return. Could be the spirits they abbandoned or their angels, or it could be the spirits of the wild.

Honestly why would anet write the gods out of the story just to bring thzm back next season

I quite enjoyed it. Aurene is/was our daughter! = Canon. Loved that part. Sorry just my fanboy getting the better of me.I'm not much into meta-anaysis or prediciting future events, but I'm also looking forward to Zafirah's story. Regardless of liking/disliking her, as the "newcomer" of the group, fleshing her out in one way or another is quite important. Or else, it'd be like in a single player RPG where you get a new party member, and you'd learn nothing new afterwards outside of the inital information. Yes, people are probably bound to still dislike her afterwards, but whatever that's perfectly legit and fine.

Caithe's one of my favorites, so nothing much to be said.

@derd.6413 said:

@ThatOddOne.4387 said:

@derd.6413 said:

@ugrakarma.9416 said:

@ThatOddOne.4387 said:Also confirmation that Kralkatorrik is back in the Mists now instead of elsewhere on Tyria - People thought he would head to another part of Elona or to the Charr Lands where he awoke, but it seems that's not the case - And giving more grounds to the theory that he could just consume the entirety of the Mists which definitely classifies him as more than a Tyria-level threat.

The Gods have evidently not been written out of the story however. What makes you think so?

If they had truly been written out, there wouldn't be continued references to them throughout the entire expansion even after Balthazar's death. I don't know how you define writing something out but having continual references to something that has been supposedly written out of the story definitely doesn't classify amongst most definitions.