Jump to content
  • Sign Up

Am I the only person who liked/likes Trahearne? :(


Cynder.2509

Recommended Posts

I liked him. He was a good guy and a good friend who tried his best to do the right thing after the PC pushed him to assume the role of the Pact Marshal (if it was up to him, he would have been more than fine to become just an advisor). To this day, i still think he was killed off more to appease all the haters than because he actually needed to die.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@"Taril.8619" said:My only qualm with him, personally, was when he started calling all the new Sylvari the "Secondborn" because that's not very nice, since it can be interpreted as them being inferior...Yes, that and a few other things... He was not a pure hero type character or anything like that, he did have major flaws. But I still think all in all he was a good character for the story. Could have been handled better, though.

He should not have become the leader of the Pact. Instead, someone with actual military experience should have led, while Trahearne should have been an advisor (Perhaps he could become a leader later in the storyline after a unplanned catastrophe happens and the leader dies and Trahearne ends up being calm and reasonable in the crisis and actually leads the survivors to safety thus gaining their trust in his ability to make decisions about tactics - While being supported by the 3 Order representatives whom can provide him with military based plans) putting him in a similar position to our PC, not at the helm of a military operation that you have no experience in, but still playing an important role.That would have made more sense for his initial characterization, true.But I think that's where the writers were in trouble: There is no character at this point who would have made a good Pact Marshall. The PC can't do it, because the PC can't be TOO important in a game like this. Also, no military experience. Letting us be the second in command is already pretty brave for Anet. Everyone from the three orders is out, too, because they didn't want one order to be "higher" than the rest.Logan also couldn't have done it at this time, because the Destiny's Edge plot was still unresolved and all members had to be on an equal footing for that time.So... Who's left?

I think this is actually the reason Trahearne was invented at all. Notice how he was one of the characters whose concept had only been finished pretty late into develpment. Absolutely zero mention of him in any of the novels, even though his backstory could have tied in here and there. (And his history with the orders alone could have been its own novel.) So yes, I'm rather certain that he was created specifically to fill that role as the Pact Marshall.

So if we assume he could have been an adviser, then some other character would have been created from scratch. Would people have liked that one better? Who knows.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Character itself was awesome, with the potential to really be something else. The right ingredients were there, intriguing background, one of the first born, Orr specialist, Necro. Quiet, withdrawn type. But the static story cinematics really didn't do the Zhaitan arc any favours. Or any story for that matter. As soon as the cutscenes started it felt like watching wooden characters badly acting their way through a story. When they ditched that method it already improved a lot, but the damage already had been done, and the voice acting + writing also didn't do any favours for the character. They redeemed him well in HoT though, so at least he didn't leave a sour taste.

Playing Sylvari also helps in appreciating the character a bit more. Especially going through HoT, which is something I recommend to anyone interested.(They also do a bit of this with Charr PC's in the new episode)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Introduced a new player to the game and whole story 2 weeks ago. He really liked Trahearne. Especially his voice, he said, after I asked him directly about it, wondering how unbiased people rate it.The whole personal story voice acting was, compared to current story, a whole different world. Maybe even up to LWS2, it was just below average IMHO, as if the voice actors were not given any context in which to act, simply reading aloud lines with very basic emphasising. I sometimes bit myself on my lips watching the dialogue cut scenes with the new guy I introduced, hoping he wouldn't ask me about how unnatural or bland it is. He actually dismissed it as "probably being a bit older" and didn't see a big problem in it, but he likes the new stories a lot more because of them feeling more natural, also because of the dialogues being in-world.

And I don't remember myself hating Trahearne. Though the "How does Trahearne like his steak? 'Well done!'" and "How many Trahearnes does it need to change a lightbulb? 'Commander, a word." jokes cannot be dismissed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first full play through of original content (Sylvari) I really liked him, and the full play out of his story (in HoT) hit hard. A couple of partially completed characters and a second Sylvari later I could see his story from a different perspective and he seemed a tad full of himself at times. LW2 didn't do him much justice, seeing him though Caith's eyes. Really if there is a Sylvari that gets my ire it would be her. But over all I miss the character. Canach in the one I really enjoy. I haven't delved into Icebrood yet, but I was rather upset that you hear from all of the guild but him at the end of the previous story line.Trahearne gets hate because the writers had him delve into every aspect of the storyline with out having to commit to any one faction (as the player was forced to).He is the bookworm who found himself on the frontlines. I bet if polled you would find that a lot of folks who like Trahearne also like Doctor Who... but I digress.As many have said, we all have our favorite and our favorite to hate on NPCs. For me its Braham... some of it is my low tolerance for his voice actors voice (I'm a critter, and Sam is an awesome guy, but his voice and my ear drums do not get along), some of it is the all the emo pouting the character does... and hey some can relate to Braham and all his feels (16yr old me prolly would have). So I can see how some would resent a know-it-all walking talking book who decided to venture into the heart of danger and become a martyr, but I enjoyed the character they chose to walk an intertwining path with the player.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I happened to play a necromancer night sylvari from the priory when I met him for the first time... I didn't planned this, it was a perfect match... And instant love! My sylvari is still trying to save him in hot, they planted a seed in Orr, and it became their son, a revenant. I wouldn't have cared as much if I had played a human... This was pure luck and I cherish that storyline and the character.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sure let me take responsibility of the biggest military operation in 50.000 years, also please let me turn around and dump ALL responsibility on some random stranger i met a few days earlier while i go paint my leaves.

It was a horribly horribly badly scripted character.

And yet i still hate Braham more... I just can't handle his narcissism, and his turn around now just makes him worse!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Vayne.8563 said:One of the main complaints for non Sylvari was that he just showed up out of nowhere and took over the story but Sylvari characters met him much earlier.

I felt that same way, and was surprised at how early I met him on my 3rd (maybe 4th?) character who was a Sylvari.

For me I found it very jarring trying to manage my expectations of a Sylvari (cabbage man) being a scholar, a necromancer, and swinging a greatsword. It was all very bizarre for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like Trahearne as a character, but really do not like how his Personal Story storyline was handled, especially to non-Sylvari characters. He just randomly shows up on Claw Island and afterwards instantly becomes the Pact leader despite the PC barely knowing him up to that point (unless you're Sylvari) and everyone only knowing him as a scholar. It just seemed like a really forced and unrealistic decision imo, as there would have likely been a better candidate for Pact marshall that was unaffiliated with an order, but still known for combat strategy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Fenella.2634 said:I also never had issues with him. Yes, the writing could have been better, but his character arc was pretty good. The ending was awful, though.And he was one of our more reliable NPC friends. When I first played the story, I remember being pretty disappointed in DE. Even after the Zhaitan fight and everything we had been through, they still refused to see the bigger picture in LS2 and went back to their smallscale local stuff. Trahearne, OTOH, didn't have us do chores first before agreeing to join the Summit in the Grove. He just sent a letter and then attended, no drama, no issues about his priorities. Good ally.

Edit: And since PoF I've been pretty worried about his soul, actually. With that soul-eating monster in the Realm of the Lost... I mean, if our death in PoF counted as traumatic, then his death surely qualified for the Realm of the Lost, too. :(We haven't seen or heard anything from him since then, even though ghosts are pretty much a thing. The ghost army against Kralkatorrik was led by Gwen for some reason. Why would she, if the actual founder of the Pact was around? But maybe he wasn't around. Eir and Snaff visited, which was nice, but... I am worried.SPOILERS FOR HOT & LS3We put his soul to rest when we reforged Caladbolg. He was struggling, but he moved on finally.

@ ThreadSPOILERS FOR PERSONAL STORYPeople disliked Trahearne because he replaced the Order Mentor, all of which were well-received and loved. This created an unfair bias agianst him, and everyting he did afterwards was seen as hogging all the glory.

Not just the PC's glory, but the glory of the Order Mentor he replaces.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really liked the character as well. I only just got back into the game around 3 months ago and playing through the whole story was my first goal. Enjoyed every minute of it. I made a new, Sylvari female ranger main and I could easily imagine her being very close with Trahearne. The story elements in HoT only made the feeling stronger. Sure enough, the voice actor can be a bit bland at times but I feel like this was improved a lot in LW and HoT. I don't remember much of how the story originally was as I left for years after launch. I have heard that a lot of the dialogue was re-recorded.

STORY SPOILERS

The thing that bothers me the most is how his death is handled. I guess the whole seed thing makes sense so we have to kill him (although you would imagine that killing Mordremoth in his dimensional world would've taken care of it). But....when we kill Trahearne he basically turns into a beam of light. Apparently because at the same time we release Mordremoths power which in turn awakens Aurene and causes her to hatch. But what of Trahearne himself? There's no body. Why not?

Sure enough there is the Caladbolg quest but that is NOT Trahearne. It's the sword's memory of him. We've died and gone to the Domain of the Lost. He wasn't there. And no, I don't think his spirit would be as weak as to fall prey to the monster there. He practically bested Mordremoth with his mind so puhleese. Then we meet an army of the dead with Eir and Snaff in the lead. We even see Gwen. Trahearne? Nowhere to be seen.

Then of course there's the reference to him in Season 4 of LW. We find the Orrian Tablet at Displaced Towers and we get to read the final line of the orrian poem which according to Taimi was Trahearne's favorite. And of course the final line says: "And I will chase it back to you".

It feels odd to me that they would make a reference like this and never do anything with it....we have Aurene now. We have the scrying pool. And Aurene also exists in the Mists now. So who knows. But if he does come back in one form or another I hope it won't be super cringy. I would be particularly interested in what the whole blending with Mordremoth thing did to him as a whole.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@"Sarosna.6708" said:I really liked the character as well. I only just got back into the game around 3 months ago and playing through the whole story was my first goal. Enjoyed every minute of it. I made a new, Sylvari female ranger main and I could easily imagine her being very close with Trahearne. The story elements in HoT only made the feeling stronger. Sure enough, the voice actor can be a bit bland at times but I feel like this was improved a lot in LW and HoT. I don't remember much of how the story originally was as I left for years after launch. I have heard that a lot of the dialogue was re-recorded.

STORY SPOILERS

The thing that bothers me the most is how his death is handled. I guess the whole seed thing makes sense so we have to kill him (although you would imagine that killing Mordremoth in his dimensional world would've taken care of it). But....when we kill Trahearne he basically turns into a beam of light. Apparently because at the same time we release Mordremoths power which in turn awakens Aurene and causes her to hatch. But what of Trahearne himself? There's no body. Why not?

Sure enough there is the Caladbolg quest but that is NOT Trahearne. It's the sword's memory of him. We've died and gone to the Domain of the Lost. He wasn't there. And no, I don't think his spirit would be as weak as to fall prey to the monster there. He practically bested Mordremoth with his mind so puhleese. Then we meet an army of the dead with Eir and Snaff in the lead. We even see Gwen. Trahearne? Nowhere to be seen.

Then of course there's the reference to him in Season 4 of LW. We find the Orrian Tablet at Displaced Towers and we get to read the final line of the orrian poem which according to Taimi was Trahearne's favorite. And of course the final line says: "And I will chase it back to you".

It feels odd to me that they would make a reference like this and never do anything with it....we have Aurene now. We have the scrying pool. And Aurene also exists in the Mists now. So who knows. But if he does come back in one form or another I hope it won't be super cringy. I would be particularly interested in what the whole blending with Mordremoth thing did to him as a whole.

I think the "reason" we had to kill him was stupid and poorly thought out. If Mordy wanted to have a back-up there were like gazillion better places than the one guy you use to bait your nemesis into your den. Pretty much ANY place in the whole Tyria would be better. Gah, I'm still so bitter they made me do this kitten.

I don't see the end of the poem as a reference meaning we're supposed to see Trahearne again. I believe it's more of a nod to us, who like him. After all, he completed his Wyld Hunt and made getting rid of Mordremoth for good possible before he died. So no need to bother him again, let him rest. He deserves it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was deeply, intensely indifferent to him. You might think it impossible to "intensely not care" about a character, but it happened with Trahearne for me. I really tried to feel strongly one way or another about him on many, many playthroughs on a variety of characters, but... nothing. I thought I'd get something out of my sylvari character playthroughs, but I think the fact that HoT was so personal for me and Canach (who happened to be with me throughout much of the story) that it overshadowed the Trahearne arc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Trahearne was one of the best characters, yeah. There were only two real problems about his implementation: firstly, he used to bug out in missions early on and people hated that and him by proxy. Secondly, he was put in charge over our character and the incredibly entitled g4m3rs couldn't stand the fact that somebody with a real knowledge of the region we're fighting for outranks their meathead character who solves 99% of their problems by bashing heads in. "Why aren't I the leader of the Pact? Why do I not get to have this shiny sword in addition to every other weapon the game showers me with? Why is my behind not getting kissed enough? Whine, whine, whine", etc.

Furthermore, your general MMO population has very little interest in a character plagued by internal struggles and self-doubt. They get enough of that in the real world. They want hypermasculine gung-ho badasses, hot chicks and comic relief (how are you doing, Tybalt? Nice job ruining the mystique of a secret order with your dangerously hapless but HEEEEEElarious hijinks!). A character like Trahearne was singularly unsuited for the target audience. More's the pity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I liked Trahearne. The first time I played, I had no idea who all the Destiny's Edge characters were that kept getting foisted on my poor Asura as if I was supposed to care about these total strangers. (I had only interacted with Zojja at that point.) Trahearne was a regular character and a sort of mentor, and the PRIMARY character who added some continuity to my adventure. Rest in peace, my classy tree dude.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

I liked him. I think a lot of people got confused and thought he stole our glory not realizing the two different roles of the commander and trahearne. His whole thing was he was an explorer scholar and well connected even with non playable races. He united the pact and brought everyone together even the commander. the commander was the pact's greats weapon but trahearne was its common link that brought it together so it made sense for them to want him as the leader.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

@"Cynder.2509" said:A simple question and I want to meet fellow people who liked/like him.I think he was just so much misunderstood (like me) and his writing could have been better.

Also: late to the discussion. I found the thread and I had to. I personally LOVE Trahearne. (I have to specify, though; it's platonic. haha.) Perhaps it's something strange about me, but I rather like being told what to feel. It's a lifetime of being a reader. The BOOK, the STORY is what tells me what's going on. Not me. Perhaps I was unsuited to playing a personalized-main-character video game, but when Trahearne said 'my friend' I got the memo that everybody else seemed to have missed: WE ARE KITTENING FRIENDS. That's how stories WORK. When my mentor said "oh it's nice to see you! Meet my student!" I anticipated a friendly person. When my mentor died and Trahearne expressed sympathy, we BONDED. This is the progression Anet tried to convey and kinda failed.

In a lot of ways Anet failed at Trahearne. And that gets blamed on Trahearne, who, through no fault of his own, was thrown at an audience that didn't want him and who couldn't see him. But I treasure such gems as Trahearne. He's a beautiful blessing on those of us with the maturity to see him and the personality to like him, rather than being blinded by buggy gameplay and preconceived expectations.

I love his voice acting. He is not monotone; he is subtle. There was one time a book called a character monotone. I was picturing a mechanical, robot-like single-tone stiff dialogue. I had a lot of difficulty playing his voice in my head and had to linger over his lines to get the feel of his voice. One day, I had a lightbulb flash, realized that if Trahearne is the definition of 'monotone,' this random character who canonically speaks in a monotone is FAR more interesting than I thought. I was probably wrong (I don't actually think Trahearne is monotone) but I stubbornly read him in Trahearne's voice ever-after, as a sort of private haha moment at everyone who hates him for his voice. (I'm a weirdo who thinks that - which is probably a pun of some sort - counts as a taunt in that regard, but eh.) His voice acting is nuanced. He has, discernibly, sadness, awe, anger, shock, and even disgust. Of course, I primarily read books, which have zero voice acting whatsoever, so voice acting was kind of new and exciting for me at the time and no matter how awful it was I'd take it. (I'm a very late joiner of the gamer world and GW2 is the most recent one I've ever played and the only one I STILL play.) I'll be fair and say he could do with talking a bit louder when he's giving speeches (I kept wanting to say 'speak up and maybe sound a bit more violent?' but that was more of my Vigil character trying to do a bit of friendly coaching than 'oh my kittens let an actual leader talk' which seems to be most people's attitudes.)

In all fairness, I started playing literally three years ago, I have VERY low standards when it comes to technology in gameplay, and my primary focus is (or at least was) the INTENDED experience of the story, looking past things that were, in effect, bad QoL which I have a very strong track record of not caring about. (When I search for something on Google it literally takes half a minute to load. No kidding. But I'm used to it and I couldn't care less. Maybe I have time to kill; maybe QoL matters less to me. Maybe I'm just patient.) Whatever it is, I'm glad of it, because it allowed me to appreciated Trahearne.

To be fair, I like all the characters that I'm supposed to like. I hate all the characters I'm supposed to hate. I love Trahearne, I adore Taimi, I stand in solidarity with Braham. I am passive about Joko (he's actually slightly laughable compared to other villains, and his puns are funny) but he was a bad guy so I resented him hissing in my face and I enjoyed it when Aurene ate him. I actually had zero opinion about Aurene for a long time: she never spoke and I never used the Tarir portal stone and so I never got a good read on the Commander's opinion of her (and therefore never had an opinion of my own). All this to explain: I go with the narrative. If you allow yourself to get swept away by it, it's pretty amazing. I didn't start out thinking that my character is me, therefore she acts like me. I started out thinking that I am my character, therefore I should think and feel the way she does for the best experience.

Maybe Guild Wars 2 should have been a book. Or at least the core story should have. Approaching the game like a book where I am being told what to think and feel has worked out pretty well. Trahearne I think would have appealed much better to a literary audience than a gameplaying one. He had his role as a background character; the only thing that brought him and the Commander closer was friendship. Maybe if they had been less friendly and the Commander was a lower rank without as much expectations, the fandom would have reacted better. But y'know? I don't care what the fandom thinks. Trahearne is a gem and a light to ME, and I will treasure him as such and thank God that he ever existed, in his short, bright, tragic life that taught me so much, made me feel so much, and in the end forced me, shedding tears, to make a sacrifice as great for me as it was for him, for the good of Tyria.

My character named herself after the greatest gift Trahearne ever gave her. We are Tiffany Commander.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...