War Eternal Teaser

https://twitter.com/GuildWars2/status/1114198046252777472

Why do I get the feeling someone's not going to stay dead, and it's not Aurene?

As I posted on Reddit, my theory based on this trailer and the episode title, is that we're going to trap Kralkatorrik in a fractal loop, one that keeps him fighting eternally that he cannot break out of. He will remain a part of The All, but won't threaten balance or Tyria any more.

Correct me if i'm wrong on any of my speculation but:

1. we're going into the mists, that doesn't really seem like specualtion since the trailer makes it pretty explicit
2. Konig's fractal theory is something i wasn't even thinking of but makes absolute sense considering the shattered observatory.
3. our little white flying friend there is, i believe, some sort of ascension of aurene. her spirit manifest in the mists after undergoing whatever draconic ritual that glint's crystal told her about. and since we're dealing with the mists and the multiverse itself, my theory is we're potentially hopping on alternate tyrian ascensions of aurene. either that or we're hopping on some native mist creatures that we'll be able to tame. (can the mist mould new creatures based off of a template? like if aurene is a template, would the mists be able to create 'reflections' of her that we can tame and ride?)

Kralks wings look rather short to me

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:As I posted on Reddit, my theory based on this trailer and the episode title, is that we're going to trap Kralkatorrik in a fractal loop, one that keeps him fighting eternally that he cannot break out of. He will remain a part of The All, but won't threaten balance or Tyria any more.

Interesting theory, I like it

Whilst the fractal loop theory is interesting, I question the naming of it. Eternal War seems a bit grand for what would essentially just be a constant battle to keep Kralkatorrik occupied. With who? What?

@"ThatOddOne.4387" said:https://twitter.com/GuildWars2/status/1114198046252777472

Why do I get the feeling someone's not going to stay dead, and it's not Aurene?

Well... it's always been assumed there was a new War. So, maybe now we get to meet him/her/xer/whatever.

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:As I posted on Reddit, my theory based on this trailer and the episode title, is that we're going to trap Kralkatorrik in a fractal loop, one that keeps him fighting eternally that he cannot break out of. He will remain a part of The All, but won't threaten balance or Tyria any more.

Shouldn't there be Kraalkatoriks from every Tyria in the multiverse, all headed for the Mists? Maybe we just make them fight each other in an eternal stalemate.

@"castlemanic.3198" said:

3. our little white flying friend there is, i believe, some sort of ascension of aurene. her spirit manifest in the mists after undergoing whatever draconic ritual that glint's crystal told her about. and since we're dealing with the mists and the multiverse itself, my theory is we're potentially hopping on alternate tyrian ascensions of aurene. either that or we're hopping on some native mist creatures that we'll be able to tame. (can the mist mould new creatures based off of a template? like if aurene is a template, would the mists be able to create 'reflections' of her that we can tame and ride?)

White? If you mean the final shot, that's someone riding a gray dragon which has horns on its head. So it doesn't seem to me to be Aurene. The horns look similar to Zhaitan's, arguably; and its skin is gray as well. While the tail is very Aurene-like, the same tail shape can be seen on Vlast's and Kralkatorrik's models.

While we're undoubtably dealing with the Mists, the open world zone isn't likely to be in the Mists given this comment by Linsey Murdock which would have been said as they began working on Episode 6. And I'm betting that final shot isn't some instance in the Mists.

@Randulf.7614 said:Kralks wings look rather short to me

They do. They also look very fat. More like hands/claws than wings.

@perilisk.1874 said:Shouldn't there be Kraalkatoriks from every Tyria in the multiverse, all headed for the Mists? Maybe we just make them fight each other in an eternal stalemate.

As epic as that one suggestion I recall, I think from Kossage?, of having to deal with multiple Kralkatorriks over the Hall of Heroes, I doubt such a scenario for three reasons:

1. One Kralkatorrik is HUGE to render in the game. Two or more would no doubt be easily constant-crashing.
2. It's probable that Kralkatorrik going too far away from Tyria would imbalance his connection to The All as well, and going far enough to reach another world, even another Tyria, may be too far. This is likely why Kralkatorrik has remained in Tyria's afterlives, which seem to be borderlined to Tyria.
3. It would no doubt be a clusterfuck of a storytelling to have multiple Tyrias' Pacts and other armies chasing Kralkatorrik into the Mists. And how would they handle the Commander from other Tyrias?

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:

3. It would no doubt be a kitten of a storytelling to have multiple Tyrias' Pacts and other armies chasing Kralkatorrik into the Mists. And how would they handle the Commander from other Tyrias?

Evil mirror universe commander could be the villain for Season 5. Like, they wouldn't even have their own look or VA, they would just have the same appearance and race and VA as the PC (but with a goatee, regardless of sex). Maybe steam creatures would be involved.

All creatures we've seen so far trapped in a fractal loop are fractal echoes themselves.

What keeps the memory of Arkk in a loop would not work with Kralkatorrik, since Kralkatorrik is real.
He would just open a mists portal and leave.
Maybe we could keep him distracted for a while by leaving there our own fractal echoes fighting him over and over and keeping him from opening portals, but it would not lasts forever.
Eventually he'd catch on and figure a way to leave the loop.
Even if we managed to drain him of Balthazar's magic, nothing guarantees that would result in him forgetting how to make those portals, or losing the ability to make them.

So something like that would only be a temporary measure until we can find a better solution.

@perilisk.1874 said:

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:

3. It would no doubt be a kitten of a storytelling to have multiple Tyrias' Pacts and other armies chasing Kralkatorrik into the Mists. And how would they handle the Commander from other Tyrias?

My commander already has a goatee.... :sunglasses: And sadly, I suspect a large number of readers will have missed that reference completely. Man I feel old..

@Turkeyspit.3965 said:

@perilisk.1874 said:

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:

3. It would no doubt be a kitten of a storytelling to have multiple Tyrias' Pacts and other armies chasing Kralkatorrik into the Mists. And how would they handle the Commander from other Tyrias?

I can certainly say my Commander is "brutal, savage, unprincipled, uncivilized, treacherous - in every way splendid example of h. sapiens... Quite refreshing".

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:As I posted on Reddit, my theory based on this trailer and the episode title, is that we're going to trap Kralkatorrik in a fractal loop, one that keeps him fighting eternally that he cannot break out of. He will remain a part of The All, but won't threaten balance or Tyria any more.

I wonder how would that restore the balance? Sure he cannot threaten the balance anymore, but the balance is out of whack right now.

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@"castlemanic.3198" said:

3. our little white flying friend there is, i believe, some sort of ascension of aurene. her spirit manifest in the mists after undergoing whatever draconic ritual that glint's crystal told her about. and since we're dealing with the mists and the multiverse itself, my theory is we're potentially hopping on alternate tyrian ascensions of aurene. either that or we're hopping on some native mist creatures that we'll be able to tame. (can the mist mould new creatures based off of a template? like if aurene is a template, would the mists be able to create 'reflections' of her that we can tame and ride?)

I am talking about the final shot, and my assumption about dealing with mist reflections of aurene was supposed to account for the differences between the aurene we know and the dragon being ridden in the final shot (the reflections would be imperfect, i maybe should have specified that). However, with what you've pointed out about how the open world is going to be stuck on tyria, it's more than likely that my guess is off.

Is it possible we're looking at dragons untouched by the elder dragons? Or will we have to wait and see for any sort of clarification?

@Sir Vincent III.1286 said:I wonder how would that restore the balance? Sure he cannot threaten the balance anymore, but the balance is out of whack right now.

It wouldn't fix it, just keep it from getting worse from Kralkatorrik's end. The balance isn't so far out of whack things are irreversible, and even if Kralk's side is never fixed, fixing the others would bring things back to a near-reasonable lifestyle (no less worse than right after Zhaitan's death).

@castlemanic.3198 said:

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@castlemanic.3198 said:

3. our little white flying friend there is, i believe, some sort of ascension of aurene. her spirit manifest in the mists after undergoing whatever draconic ritual that glint's crystal told her about. and since we're dealing with the mists and the multiverse itself, my theory is we're potentially hopping on alternate tyrian ascensions of aurene. either that or we're hopping on some native mist creatures that we'll be able to tame. (can the mist mould new creatures based off of a template? like if aurene is a template, would the mists be able to create 'reflections' of her that we can tame and ride?)

I was also talking about the final shot. Doesn't look too Aurene-like. Aside from the skin being gray (not white), and the head having horns, there doesn't seem to be crystals either. The tail shape is really the only similarity, but we see that shape on Kralkatorrik's tail as well as Vlast's.

The idea the zone will go to some sort of "dragon homeland in Tyria" was another thought I presented (only to get bombarded by redditors going "THE GAME IS DEAD ANET CAN'T MAKE A DRAGON WORLD CUZ OF LAYOFFS" meh).

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:As I posted on Reddit, my theory based on this trailer and the episode title, is that we're going to trap Kralkatorrik in a fractal loop, one that keeps him fighting eternally that he cannot break out of. He will remain a part of The All, but won't threaten balance or Tyria any more.

Interesting theory, although with him feeding on the mists itself and growing ever more powerful it may only be a temporary solution.Considering he can effectively break in and out of the mists at will it'll probably take an absurd amount of energy to trap him there.

Regarding the Dragon creature we see too, Some are speculating a new mount but it seems far too similar to the Griffon to warrant a new Mount tbh.. It could be a new Griffon skin.. perhaps a new prestige one 2000 gems but what significance would that have to be shown in this tiny sneak peak?We do see a glimpse of the new map though so that could be the real thing Anet are showing off with that clip.We can see pact airships and what looks like a Shatterer in the background so Pact involvement and some similar warlike stuff going on like we had in Orr with Zhaitan.The distance however is interesting.. we can see a Tree and what looks to be a big cliff face but the vast majority of it is empyness.I'm honestly torn between that being cloud/fog suggesting we are very high up somewhere or perhaps its the ocean suggesting the new map maybe located on the South East side of the world map in a totally new area we've never been to before and extending the in game map further eastward, or it could be an area around scavenger's causeway.. or slightly north of Sandswept Isles in the Dajkah region.Could even be West of Kourna allowing us to explore the Large mountain Kralk was sitting on a while ago.Or.. it could be the void of the mists which would be really interesting.

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@Sir Vincent III.1286 said:I wonder how would that restore the balance? Sure he cannot threaten the balance anymore, but the balance is out of whack right now.

@castlemanic.3198 said:

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@castlemanic.3198 said:

3. our little white flying friend there is, i believe, some sort of ascension of aurene. her spirit manifest in the mists after undergoing whatever draconic ritual that glint's crystal told her about. and since we're dealing with the mists and the multiverse itself, my theory is we're potentially hopping on alternate tyrian ascensions of aurene. either that or we're hopping on some native mist creatures that we'll be able to tame. (can the mist mould new creatures based off of a template? like if aurene is a template, would the mists be able to create 'reflections' of her that we can tame and ride?)

Yeah, watching it a few more times, you're right on all counts. the tail isn't enough to determine that it's any false reflection of aurene.

Dragon homeland in tyria sounds extremely exciting! If the dragons there could also supplant Kralk (or even have the potential to do it, not necessarily have it innately), it would make them a logical target.

Do you have any other speculations on what we might see on this patch?

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@Sir Vincent III.1286 said:I wonder how would that restore the balance? Sure he cannot threaten the balance anymore, but the balance is out of whack right now.

If that is the direction they will take, wouldn't that contradict what we've seen so far in one particular cinematic about restoring the balance? I think the solution should be finding a way to put Kral back to sleep instead of killing or trapping him. The Order of Whispers were pursuing that solution until it was somehow been forgotten. Did the Whispers just gave up on that goal and adopted the Priory's and the Vigil's goals of defeating the dragons?

Going to this suddenly revealed dragon land would be a bit too out of the blue for me, there's been absolutely no prior reference to anything like it existing.

ArenaNet have said before that WvW and the Story wouldn't intersect so "War Eternal" has nothing to do with the battle in the Mists, I think. And I hope it doesn't.

Nor do I think "trapping Kralkatorrik in a constant Fractal loop" is a satisfying way to conclude the Season, which ArenaNet have said, and I quote "Would end with a bang".

I think that "dragon" we're seeing is just a new griffon skin.

@"ThatOddOne.4387" said:Going to this suddenly revealed dragon land would be a bit too out of the blue for me, there's been absolutely no prior reference to anything like it existing.

I understand the point that a specific dragon landmass existing that's never been heard of before is something out of the blue. But dragons have existed as far back as prophecies, with Glint, and with dragons being the central focus of this game, at some point, the question needed to be asked: Where do dragons come from?

And having a dragon homeland is an answer, especially since we haven't explored all of tyria yet.

ArenaNet have said before that WvW and the Story wouldn't intersect so "War Eternal" has nothing to do with the battle in the Mists, I think. And I hope it doesn't.

The mists is not all about WvW though, so in no way would it affect WvW to have Kralkatorrik be in the mists. In fact, we've BEEN to the mists already and had nothing to do with WvW while we were there, and the mists is VAST. so we are probably gonna have content related to the mists, but nothing at all to do with WvW.

Nor do I think "trapping Kralkatorrik in a constant Fractal loop" is a satisfying way to conclude the Season, which ArenaNet have said, and I quote "Would end with a bang".

I personally think that's a suitable end, the energy needed to trap kralk might be the very bang that we're looking for. trapping or sealing something away as an end to a threat that we otherwise could not destroy (for whatever reasons), if done well, can be very satisfying. I'd argue the end of World of Warcraft: Legion showed that.

@Teratus.2859 said:Regarding the Dragon creature we see too, Some are speculating a new mount but it seems far too similar to the Griffon to warrant a new Mount tbh.. It could be a new Griffon skin.. perhaps a new prestige one 2000 gems but what significance would that have to be shown in this tiny sneak peak?

the very fact that it's a sneak peak on a video like this is a pretty extreme sign that it's not going to be a new mount skin, because arenanet don't do sneak peaks like this for mount skins. the only time they've shown mount skins (as far as i'm aware) in a promotional video was for the beetle race event.

Which means that this video IS most likely teasing a new mount. Similar to the griffon? Maybe, but there are ways they can differentiate this dragon mount from the griffon, just like the warclaw is different from the raptor despite the similar leap ability. the thing with the griffon is that it requires this entire quest line and a gold sink to achieve (quest line is fun, gold sink not so fun), and by the teaser it seems getting from one place to another via flying mount is important and not everyone has the griffon, so this gives players a chance to get a mount with the griffon flap and glide ability, but lack certain features. Perhaps this dragon mount can't dive or climb like the griffon, but it can 'dash' forward a short distance midair, or have some other mechanic that gives it a different value than the griffon. So I can see plausible ways that we can have both the griffon and the dragon as mounts and still find unique ways of using them. My only hope is that if the dragon is indeed a mount, we can mount it mid air.

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:As I posted on Reddit, my theory based on this trailer and the episode title, is that we're going to trap Kralkatorrik in a fractal loop, one that keeps him fighting eternally that he cannot break out of. He will remain a part of The All, but won't threaten balance or Tyria any more.

This is very interesting, and you probably know more than I do to answer this: how could Kralk become/get trapped into a Fractal if we don't? From my understanding of it, Arrk and Dessa are fractals themselves, as in, echoes of past events (supposedly future too, but so far we only had fractals from Tyria's past), and that's why they are forever trapped in a loop. Our players however can not only go in/out of their worlds, we can also extract resources from there, and recall our past repetitions of it (as per the potions NPC on the Mistlock Observatory - they do not remember past iterations). What would stop Kralk from doing the same, other than effectively killing him so his soul/something would become an echo instead (and killing is no deal apparently)?

Personally I think this would be a fitting end, but I just can't see it being done without some half baked explanation.

@Sir Vincent III.1286 said:

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@Sir Vincent III.1286 said:I wonder how would that restore the balance? Sure he cannot threaten the balance anymore, but the balance is out of whack right now.

Trapping him would be effectively the same as putting him to sleep if the trap prevents him from becoming more powerful. Even while awake, he'd likely just slowly burn off energy.

It'd make a hell of a lot more sense than Aurene coming back because she chowed down on a cosmic nothing called Joko, or the idea of killing Kralkatorrik in the Mists would mean his death wouldn't destabilize The All further just because the magic isn't directly in Tyria.

@"ThatOddOne.4387" said:Going to this suddenly revealed dragon land would be a bit too out of the blue for me, there's been absolutely no prior reference to anything like it existing.

I mean, yes and no. Out of the blue is more determined by how it's treated. If it's done right, as in not revealed ASAP to get us into the new map immediately, we could spend half an episode's story as we learn about it.

But there's been longstanding suggestions, albeit minor ones, that non-ED dragons exist. Even if you discount the fact no one thought Glint being a dragon to be weird, or the existence of the Bone Dragons and Rotscale telling us of an extinct (in Central Tyria) dragon species, we have Cantha full of rockhide dragons and saltspray dragons.

Plus, the recent announcement of GW2's future by Mike Z told us that the Current Events/Festival team is working on a prelude to Episode 6's launch, so we'll no doubt be getting something in the coming weeks hinting further at what we're doing and where we're going. That lead in could be dropping more about the topic, if my theory is right.

ArenaNet have said before that WvW and the Story wouldn't intersect so "War Eternal" has nothing to do with the battle in the Mists, I think. And I hope it doesn't.

There's more than one battle in the Mists, and a hell of a lot more to the Mists than WvW; a lot more than WvW, sPvP, and Fractals combined even.

But yes, it likely has nothing to do with the Mist War. Nor has anyone in this thread suggested it to be related.

Nor do I think "trapping Kralkatorrik in a constant Fractal loop" is a satisfying way to conclude the Season, which ArenaNet have said, and I quote "Would end with a bang".

As for "satisfying way to conclude the season", again, it depends solely on delivery. Anything can be epic or mundane depending on how its delivered and told.

@"ThatOddOne.4387" said:I think that "dragon" we're seeing is just a new griffon skin.

@Teratus.2859 said:Regarding the Dragon creature we see too, Some are speculating a new mount but it seems far too similar to the Griffon to warrant a new Mount tbh.. It could be a new Griffon skin.. perhaps a new prestige one 2000 gems but what significance would that have to be shown in this tiny sneak peak?

They've never shown off gemstore skins in trailers before, unless said trailer was for gemstore or smaller releases. So that seems highly unusual and unlikely to me to just be some griffon skin. Especially since we've already gotten a griffon skin for the second set of exclusive skins (next up would be beetle and maybe warclaw).

@castlemanic.3198 said:Which means that this video IS most likely teasing a new mount. Similar to the griffon? Maybe, but there are ways they can differentiate this dragon mount from the griffon, just like the warclaw is different from the raptor despite the similar leap ability. the thing with the griffon is that it requires this entire quest line and a gold sink to achieve (quest line is fun, gold sink not so fun), and by the teaser it seems getting from one place to another via flying mount is important and not everyone has the griffon, so this gives players a chance to get a mount with the griffon flap and glide ability, but lack certain features. Perhaps this dragon mount can't dive or climb like the griffon, but it can 'dash' forward a short distance midair, or have some other mechanic that gives it a different value than the griffon. So I can see plausible ways that we can have both the griffon and the dragon as mounts and still find unique ways of using them. My only hope is that if the dragon is indeed a mount, we can mount it mid air.

I dunno. It seems like no one would want to use griffon over dragon if it was an everywhere mount. And changing how it flies probably isn't enough. And if it's changed in a way that griffon is still objectively superior, then the new dragon mount would be underwhelming except in visuals.

I think this may be an instance, event, or even just map-specific mounts. Might even be an NPC up on that mount for all we really know, tbh. If it is the new mastery, then a map-specific mount seems likely, especially if this is a heavy air-focused map; it could be giving some mechanics that would be downright broken in other maps but the new map designed to deal with, to keep it neat for those who have griffon, and be downright necessary for those without griffon.

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:I dunno. It seems like no one would want to use griffon over dragon if it was an everywhere mount. And changing how it flies probably isn't enough. And if it's changed in a way that griffon is still objectively superior, then the new dragon mount would be underwhelming except in visuals.

I think this may be an instance, event, or even just map-specific mounts. Might even be an NPC up on that mount for all we really know, tbh. If it is the new mastery, then a map-specific mount seems likely, especially if this is a heavy air-focused map; it could be giving some mechanics that would be downright broken in other maps but the new map designed to deal with, to keep it neat for those who have griffon, and be downright necessary for those without griffon.

That all makes sense, however disappointing it may be. Was really excited for a moment there.

an interesting, if not very informative, teaser.

Honestly the dragon that's not Kralkatorrik looks a bit more like Vlast than Aurene. But it could be Aurene maturing further and looking more draconic like her brother.