Speculations, how will all this lead to Cantha?

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:"death/vine touched thing only applied to a handful of enemies" but yet "massive minion roster boost". Literally same thing on both cases.No. Compare the number of types of Risen, Icebrood, Branded, and Mordrem, to Destroyers. Its not even close.https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Risen#Typeshttps://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Branded#Typeshttps://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mordrem#Typeshttps://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Icebrood#Typeshttps://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Destroyer#Types

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:"new area wide mechanics like the Fury of the Brandstorm," which is different from Draconis Mons' water how?You mean besides that the Fury of the Brandstorm is something generated by Kralk's magic, while the sulphuric water is a wholly natural reaction to being in a volcano? One comes from the dragon, the other doesn't.

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:"The singular Stone Dwarf expanded nothing on the dwarves as a whole, and was just a remote one off like Odgen is" "the continued exploration of Vlast, Glint, Glint's Lair, the Dragonblood Spear, etc" - guess what else is a remote one off? I mean, the Glint's Lair, Vlast, and Glint - they were one and done characters and locations. The Dragonsblood Spear could be argued the same, in all honesty.Except Rhoban was literally a one off in S3, that had nothing to do with the overall plot, or even Primordus. Whereas Glint, Vlast, Glint's Lair, the Dragonblood Spear, Kesho, and Aurene, all tied directly into the main quest of Path of Fire. All were things Balthazar was after in his war to kill Kralk, and absorb his power, and were tied to Kralk as a result. Its literal apples and oranges comaprison.

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:Doesn't that rather contradict your earlier statements and support my argument that there wasn't that much buildup for Kralk and that there's enough room for Primordus? I mean, if only one episode properly built up Kralkatorrik, then why are four episodes not enough for Primordus?Because, again, Kralk got substantial buildup in Path of Fire beforehand. Balthazar may have been the final boss of Path of Fire, but Balthazar was chasing down Kralk, and the actual plot was about covering all of the major Kralk lore points in an attempt to stop Balthazar. Four episodes would be enough for Primordus if Primordus had gotten any sort of substantial buildup in a previous expansion. He hasn't.

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:Jormag has been showing itself to be acting in two different but predictable manners.Little different from Kralkatorrik vs. Kralkatorrik's Torment.I would disagree with this statement. Jormag's actions throughout the whole narrative have been too premeditated, and methodical, to be the result of torment. Nor has its actions been in any way contradictory, or suggesting two conflicting mindsets at play. Its actions have been wholly consistent throughout, and in line with its nature as the dragon of persuasion. Its just a giant liar, and manipulator, saying things we want to hear in order to lull us into self doubt. Its trying to weaken us, mentally, emotionally, and physically, to make us easier targets in the long run. This is the same stunt it pulled on Asgeir, leading Asgeir to wonder later in life if Jormag just played him because he know Asgeir could have won. Jormag is already doing it with Braham, aka Asgeir 2.0. We see this in our fight with the whisper, and again at the end of episode 4. Making Braham doubt himself, and making Brahamn doubt the need for one of them to kill each other. Not to mention, Jormag point blank states in the newest Bangar conversation that it isn't suffering from torment like Kralk is. Could be another lie, but its not being tormented would be consistent with what we have seen.

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:Hell, "gathering our forces" is ALWAYS done off-screen between episodes. "our forces" are always just there and present.This is just completely untrue. Both the base game fight against Zhaitan, and the fight against Kralk, had very obvious, and seen, force rallying story sections. Hell, that was the whole point of the Sunspear Sanctuary buildup in S4.

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:There is no way that "Jormag's Enemy" and "Jormag's Secret" won't be involved in the future plot. The rest of the season won't be focused solely on eliminating Jormag. Four episodes is just too much for all that after all the focus Jormag got in Episodes 1+2+4.Sure they will, just like Kralk's "mother" will likely be involved in the "future" plot, aka, post the season it was introduced, as a future threat on the horizon. Jormag's enemy will be a prelude to why we should be so fearful of Primordus when his story comes up(assuming it is Primordus)

And look at how episodes 1-4 went. Both were one narrative split into two episodes. Episode 1/2 covered the Jormag whisper manipulation plot, while 3/4 were the Charr civil war plot(with other side things progressed in those plots) The final bosses of episodes 1 and 3 were just sub bosses(Fraenir, and Steel Warband) for the larger boss of that narrative(Drakkar and Bangar)

By this same pattern, episodes 5/6 and 7/8 will be one plot split across two episodes. 7/8 being the "take the fight to Jormag" plot, and, if we look at Dragon's Stand, and Dragonfall, neither of those maps/connected stories had really big lore reveals, except right at the end. The story there was just lots of "smash the dragon" military action. I don't really expect episodes 7/8 to be big lore wise, mostly just doing to be military action steps. That leaves episodes 5/6 to cover to cover all the actual remaining lore bits of IBS, from the Charr leadership, the spirits, Braham, the prophecy, getting the bow back, etc, and all of that will likely be tied to some narrative of Jormag coming out of the Mists somewhere to try to do something, us going there to stop it, maybe have Ryland be the big boss of episode 6.

With whatever plan Jormag tries to enact in 5/6 stopped, the lore reveals we get there, and whatever magical mcguffins we find, we will be in the position to take the fight to the dragon directly, leading to the big military campaign in episodes 7/8. Episode 8 will end with some big lore reveal about something, and either lead into EoD, or set up for maybe a EoD prologue chapter. Or at least it will be narrative set up they sit on until Primordus' story comes up.

If Primordus comes up at all in IBS, it will be in episodes 5/6, with Jormag doing something like trying to take advantage of Pri's hibernation to kill it, and remove his biggest enemy. But we will almost certainly stop that from happening, and, in the process, get weaponized Primordus juice to use against Jormag in 7/8. Primordus won't be narratively dealt with, he'll just be a background feature in the Jormag plot.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:"death/vine touched thing only applied to a handful of enemies" but yet "massive minion roster boost". Literally same thing on both cases.No. Compare the number of types of Risen, Icebrood, Branded, and Mordrem, to Destroyers. Its not even close.

Exclude the branded that show up in the last three episodes of Season 4, especially the bounties that are just a uniquely named generic champion, and that Branded list becomes a hell of a lot closer to what we got for Primordus. Primordus' list of minion names was always on the shorter end of the stick, even at launch when there weren't many branded or icebrood, or in Season 2 when there weren't many mordrem. If Primordus were to get involved in the second half, then it'd grow exponentially, just like the rest.

You mean besides that the Fury of the Brandstorm is something generated by Kralk's magic, while the sulphuric water is a wholly natural reaction to being in a volcano? One comes from the dragon, the other doesn't.The sulfiric water was caused by Primordus' presence. Devs confirmed it.

Because, again, Kralk got substantial buildup in Path of Fire beforehand. Balthazar may have been the final boss of Path of Fire, but Balthazar was chasing down Kralk, and the actual plot was about covering all of the major Kralk lore points in an attempt to stop Balthazar. Four episodes would be enough for Primordus if Primordus had gotten any sort of substantial buildup in a previous expansion. He hasn't.Hardly. Everything you talked about isn't tied to Kralkatorrik, it's tied to Aurene - who was involved in Mordremoth's plot too. Aurene, Glint's Legacy - these are only marginally tied to Kralkatorrik. But they're equally tied to Primordus and Mordremoth.

Just like Primordus in Season 3, Kralkatorrik was merely a distant presence in Path of Fire.

This is just completely untrue. Both the base game fight against Zhaitan, and the fight against Kralk, had very obvious, and seen, force rallying story sections. Hell, that was the whole point of the Sunspear Sanctuary buildup in S4.It was very much true in the fight against Kralkatorrik. We weren't involved in the forces showing up in Thunderhead Peak nor in the forces showing up in Dragonfall, because we were busy elsewhere doing other things. They showed up in those places while we were off in the Mists.

The Sunspear Sanctuary had nothing to do with building forces to fight Kralkatorrik. It was, as the new name implies, a refuge for those under assault by Kralkatorrik's new powers.

Sure they will, just like Kralk's "mother" will likely be involved in the "future" plot, aka, post the season it was introduced, as a future threat on the horizon. Jormag's enemy will be a prelude to why we should be so fearful of Primordus when his story comes up(assuming it is Primordus)If that were true, we'd be getting it at the end of the season, not mid-season. The situations are entirely different, because Kralkatorrik muttered "mother" with his last breath, while Jormag will be dealt with for four more episodes (at least) after we learn their secret and enemy.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:Exclude theNo. If you have to use the argument of "well, take away everything that contradicts me" to make a point, your point is bad.The sulfiric water was caused by Primordus' presence. Devs confirmed it.No indication in the episode itself, and it hasn't been used across mutliple maps like the Brandstorm, and Jormag's ice storms, have.Hardly. Everything you talked about isn't tied to Kralkatorrik, it's tied to AureneYou mean the same Aurene who was the fundamental key to defeating Kralk, and was the focus of Balthazar in Path of Fire after Vlast died for the same reason? Aurene's plot is part of the Kralk plot they are fundamentally tied together. Just as Balthazar and Kralk's plots were.The Sunspear Sanctuary had nothing to do with building forces to fight Kralkatorrik. It was, as the new name implies, a refuge for those under assault by Kralkatorrik's new powers.This is just demonstrably wrong. The whole point of the Sun's Refuge achievements was to bring everyone together to create a force to combat Kralk. You help build up the Sunspears, get them and the Awakened on friendlier terms, and have the Pact right outside. There is even NPC dialog in the sun's Refuge where people talk about how crowded its getting, and that it shows all of Elona is banding together to fight Kralk. And low and behold, the Sunspears, Awakened(in the Crystal Bloom), and the Pact, are key players in the fight against Kralk in the end. This is just basic narrative buildup.If that were true, we'd be getting it at the end of the season, not mid-season.Not at all. Foreshadowing, and narrative buildup, happens at whatever point in the story it makes the most sense to. Not always at the extreme end of the previous story. It makes sense to do it here because we wouldn't realistically have these sorts of in-depth conversations while we are bashing the dragon's face in(episodes 7/8), and Jormag might not be directly present in episodes 5/6. Having it now, just after he created a new "voice", and we are in a lull, makes sense.

This isn't even getting into how neither the Zhaitan, Mordremoth, or Kralk, stories had us fighting two dragons at once. So the established pattern doesn't suggest they would suddenly do it now. Likewise, the one major narrative reason to bring Primrodus in, that we need his power to fight Jormag because that is Jormag's weakness, has already been hand waved out with the assertions that Braham, wielding a weapon infused with Jotun fire magic, and channeling the power of the Spirits of the Wild, can kill Jormag. As Asgeir could have using the same in the past had Jormag not mentally broken him.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:Exclude theNo. If you have to use the argument of "well, take away everything that contradicts me" to make a point, your point is bad.

It's not contradicting me. We're talking about Primordus' minion type count before he is the primary antagonist and you're comparing this to the other Elder Dragons which have been primary antagonists. So obviously, counting the minions that show up in the final confrontation shouldn't be part of the comparison. Doing so makes your argument a strawman.

The sulfiric water was caused by Primordus' presence. Devs confirmed it.No indication in the episode itself, and it hasn't been used across mutliple maps like the Brandstorm, and Jormag's ice storms, have.Because it's an effect of Primordus' direct presence.

Hardly. Everything you talked about isn't tied to Kralkatorrik, it's tied to AureneYou mean the same Aurene who was the fundamental key to defeating Kralk, and was the focus of Balthazar in Path of Fire after Vlast died for the same reason? Aurene's plot is part of the Kralk plot they are fundamentally tied together. Just as Balthazar and Kralk's plots were.That's rather proof of my argument more than yours. Aurene was the core plot in these elements, not Kralkatorrik.

The Sunspear Sanctuary had nothing to do with building forces to fight Kralkatorrik. It was, as the new name implies, a refuge for those under assault by Kralkatorrik's new powers.This is just demonstrably wrong. The whole point of the Sun's Refuge achievements was to bring everyone together to create a force to combat Kralk. You help build up the Sunspears, get them and the Awakened on friendlier terms, and have the Pact right outside. There is even NPC dialog in the sun's Refuge where people talk about how crowded its getting, and that it shows all of Elona is banding together to fight Kralk. And low and behold, the Sunspears, Awakened(in the Crystal Bloom), and the Pact, are key players in the fight against Kralk in the end. This is just basic narrative buildup.

Crowded... with refugees. Which is the pivotal point of the golden path of Episode 4. Unless you're thinking we built an army out of villagers (we didn't). You need to replay Episode 4:

Taimi: Okay. We need to take everyone somewhere...deep underground or something so we can form a plan. Somewhere like...uh...Koss Dejarin: Hey. Gimme that thing.Taimi: Koss—!Koss Dejarin: How does this even work— Hello? Commander?Koss Dejarin: I know a place. Old Sunspear sanctuary from long ago. Probably been abandoned for years. For years!https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Chaos_Theory#Dialogue

Koss Dejarin: There. This place has a new purpose. Feels like it needs a new name. I hereby declare thee...Sun's Refuge!https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Legacy#Dialogue

We went there to make a refugee camp from Kralkatorrik's attack. Sure, there were some people recruited for fighting Kralkatorrik but this is mainly limited to the djinn, who was just finding a better defense against Kralk. Everyone else? It was to give them shelter. The Pact weren't even involved with Sun's Refuge - they just happened to crash outside it when chasing the Death-Branded Shatterer.

This isn't even getting into how neither the Zhaitan, Mordremoth, or Kralk, stories had us fighting two dragons at once. So the established pattern doesn't suggest they would suddenly do it now. Likewise, the one major narrative reason to bring Primrodus in, that we need his power to fight Jormag because that is Jormag's weakness, has already been hand waved out with the assertions that Braham, wielding a weapon infused with Jotun fire magic, and channeling the power of the Spirits of the Wild, can kill Jormag. As Asgeir could have using the same in the past had Jormag not mentally broken him.Those dragons don't have another Elder Dragon as their unique weakness. Jormag and Primordus already have an established pattern through Season 3 where both need to be dealt with at the same time, or using one to deal with the other.

And Braham's bow is decidedly in the hands of the enemies, so it isn't hand waved out, not by a long shot (and this is assuming it's even capable of actually landing fatal blows to Jormag which is unproven). ANd channeling the power of the Spirits of the Wild has not been established at being capable of killing Jormag - Drakkar != Jormag, as Drakkar was kept alive through the Lost Spirits, which is why they could kill it. Take away life support (Lost Spirits) and the patient (Drakkar) dies.

[Thornwolf.9721]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:Exclude theNo. If you have to use the argument of "well, take away everything that contradicts me" to make a point, your point is bad.The sulfiric water was caused by Primordus' presence. Devs confirmed it.No indication in the episode itself, and it hasn't been used across mutliple maps like the Brandstorm, and Jormag's ice storms, have.Hardly. Everything you talked about isn't tied to Kralkatorrik, it's tied to AureneYou mean the same Aurene who was the fundamental key to defeating Kralk, and was the focus of Balthazar in Path of Fire after Vlast died for the same reason? Aurene's plot is part of the Kralk plot they are fundamentally tied together. Just as Balthazar and Kralk's plots were.The Sunspear Sanctuary had nothing to do with building forces to fight Kralkatorrik. It was, as the new name implies, a refuge for those under assault by Kralkatorrik's new powers.This is just demonstrably wrong. The whole point of the Sun's Refuge achievements was to bring everyone together to create a force to combat Kralk. You help build up the Sunspears, get them and the Awakened on friendlier terms, and have the Pact right outside. There is even NPC dialog in the sun's Refuge where people talk about how crowded its getting, and that it shows all of Elona is banding together to fight Kralk. And low and behold, the Sunspears, Awakened(in the Crystal Bloom), and the Pact, are key players in the fight against Kralk in the end. This is just basic narrative buildup.If that were true, we'd be getting it at the end of the season, not mid-season.Not at all. Foreshadowing, and narrative buildup, happens at whatever point in the story it makes the most sense to. Not always at the extreme end of the previous story. It makes sense to do it here because we wouldn't realistically have these sorts of in-depth conversations while we are bashing the dragon's face in(episodes 7/8), and Jormag might not be directly present in episodes 5/6. Having it now, just after he created a new "voice", and we are in a lull, makes sense.

This isn't even getting into how neither the Zhaitan, Mordremoth, or Kralk, stories had us fighting two dragons at once. So the established pattern doesn't suggest they would suddenly do it now. Likewise, the one major narrative reason to bring Primrodus in, that we need his power to fight Jormag because that is Jormag's weakness, has already been hand waved out with the assertions that Braham, wielding a weapon infused with Jotun fire magic, and channeling the power of the Spirits of the Wild, can kill Jormag. As Asgeir could have using the same in the past had Jormag not mentally broken him.

What if we wake up Primordus? And basically set him loose against Jormag, seeing as he beat jormag once with help he could likely kill the beast. Primo also seems the LEAST interested in mortal affairs in modern years; Almost as if he sees it as beneath him. His destroyers sure do attack people but they aren't doing it for the same evil purposes many of the others are; In modern times it seems like they are just hunting for magic. Like I Said in a post above Primo "could've" killed us once we chased balth off of him, but he didn't and just left us there. I feel like having the saga go off with a "Aurene makes friends with primo, and primo squares up to jormag" would be a good way to redeeming primo and having it be revealed that since he is "Earth" he is more connected to tyria and thus doesn't suffer many of the ales and aspirations of his kin.

I also like the idea of primo being done with in this living world saga, as jormag is his enemy so he has a stake in this. Bringing him in would be very simple too for example lets go with the scenario for a moment. The stone summit that remain charge into a battle we are having with the icebrood, bringing weapons and might we didn't have and come to basically parlay with us. Primo has mentally told them through a psychic link that he wants to team up with us to put jormag down as he knows jormag is coming for him; We hesitantly agree and with the help of aurene basically wake him up similar to how scarlet did with mordemoth. When jormag enters the fray and we confront it wherever it goes (Im banking on it being in the isles of janthir or near there) Primo comes busting up and smashes into jormag; We as aurenes champions then aim to find ryland.. Mainly due to something about their connection or something they had done making jormag stronger due to ryland, and ryland is helping to injure primo. We square up with ryland and for the first time have an honest fight with him; Or rytlock fights him while we fight someone or something else. (Could even be Svanir as jormag is in the mists, perhaps it fetches him to "help") So you have three fights going on, which is the ryland vs rytlock, the us vs whatever and then in the background of the map/story you have jormag vs Primo. Making this our Kaiju battle moment with Aurene being in support trying to ensure neither of them kill one another while we deal with the bs Jormag has set up.

Now is this likely? no. Honestly I think we are just gonna end em both some how with aurenes help despite my want for BOTH of them to not be the status quo.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:We're talking about Primordus' minion type count before he is the primary antagonistExcept your whole argument thus far is that Primrodus has gotten so much central time already, while Kralk got little in PoF, that we can kill him and Jormag off in the next few episodes and be done with it, which would necessitate Primordus has had the development to be on the same level of development as the other dragons, which he isn't. Even if you remove "War Eternal" from the mix, Prmordus has nowhere near the level of creature diversity as Kralk.

Because it's an effect of Primordus' direct presence.And its been used all of once compared to the mutiple maps using the other dragon's abilities. And its als not even something pointed out i nthe narrative to be of Primordus, unlike the others.

That's rather proof of my argument more than yours. Aurene was the core plot in these elements, not Kralkatorrik.Also incorrect. Kralkatorik was the core plot in all these elements, as all of this was targeted to defeating and replacing him. Be it part of Glint's plan, Balthazar's ambition, or our own agenda, all of these plots elements were centered around Kralk.

Sure, there were some people recruited for fighting Kralkatorrik but this is mainly limited to the djinn, who was just finding a better defense against Kralk. Everyone else? It was to give them shelter.Uh huh

• All those Sunspear recruits that came there due to the recruitment poster we put up
• All the Pact soldiers there
• The Djinn
• Zafirah

Yep, all of them are there as refugees from Kralk... except, no, they aren't. Sun's Refuges started off as a refugee camp, but, if you actually do all the achievements(which I can only guess you haven't?) the overwhelming majority of NPCs in Sun's Refuge are there as part of military buildup, while the Refugee's are just one corner of it. And they make it clear you are doing this as part of a military buildup effort to combat Kralk. Like, I really don't understand your desire to argue something so basic.

Those dragons don't have another Elder Dragon as their unique weakness. Jormag and Primordus already have an established pattern through Season 3 where both need to be dealt with at the same time, or using one to deal with the other.Except as you yourself have pointed out more then once, the game has already shown us that Zhaitan and Mordremoth magics work against each other. Showing that the "each other's weakness" thing isn't exclusive to Jormag and Primordus. Also, S3 didn't say we NEED to deal with them both at the same time, it said it would be a good idea to given what we know about their weaknesses, and given that we had a machine that could do it. This is not only a misrepresentation of your own past argument(seemingly for the same of debating everything for no reason... again), but also a blatant misrepresentation of what was said in S3.

And Braham's bow is decidedly in the hands of the enemies, so it isn't hand waved out, not by a long shot (and this is assuming it's even capable of actually landing fatal blows to Jormag which is unproven). And channeling the power of the Spirits of the Wild has not been established at being capable of killing Jormag - Drakkar != Jormag, as Drakkar was kept alive through the Lost Spirits, which is why they could kill it. Take away life support (Lost Spirits) and the patient (Drakkar) dies.A. Are you seriously suggesting that we wont get the bow back before the end of the season? I know you know better then that.B. You need to brush up more on the Asgeir legend, the book "A Burden", and everything that has happened with Braham thus far.

Asgeir mentions he was able to slay Jormag's champion Frostfang in a single blow only because the Spirits channeled their power through him, just as they did Braham when we fought Drakkar. Asgeir also mentions he feels like he could have beaten Jormag, had he fought through the pain and exhaustion. Braham has already

• Been set up to be a Norn of prophecy
• Been explicitly told he needs to kill Jormag, or Jormag will kill him. Asgeir was stated to have been killed by Jormag.
• Gotten a weapon enchanted with Jotun fire magic, like Asgeir's.
• Gotten the power of the Lost Spirits to defeat Drakker, like Asgeir did Frostfang.
• Gotten the other minor Spirits to recognize him as being worthy

Like they have pretty heavy handedly shoved this into the player's face since the beginning. The whole point of Brahamn's arc in this is that hes Asgeir 2.0, except hes not going to wimp out like Asgeir did. They have already established mortal hero + enchanted weapon + power of the Spirits = being able to defeat Jormag. This is part of the reason why everyone is after the bow as well.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@Thornwolf.9721 said:What if we wake up Primordus?This would be the worst option possible.

Zhaitan, Mordremoth, Kralk, and Jormag, have all corrupted the living to expand their forces/territory, and generally seem to WANT to corrupt the living to do so, despite being able to make purely elemental minions out of nothing.

Primrodus on the other hand is the exact opposite. He has never directly corrupted a living being that we know of, and makes no effort to corrupt the land around him either. Primordus is the one least involved with mortal affairs, only because he is the one most intrested in simply burning the whole world down. Primordus is quite possibly the WORST of the Elder Dragons due to this, the greatest of evils. Arguably even more psychotic then Kralk was, because, even with his torment, Kralk wasn't that genocidal.

Primordus is easily the LAST dragon you want awake, period. If anything, if Jormag seriously offers us the chance to kill Priomordus, we should take it, then immediately turn around kill Jormag after. As little as you should trust Jormag, you should trust Primordus even LESS.

This is also why I suspect Primrodus will be last.

[Obliviscaris.6937]

DSD dragon minions may very well unexpectedly pop up in the Shiverpeaks first and foremost, having used the tunnels the Dredge dug to Cantha 250 odd years ago.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:We're talking about Primordus' minion type count before he is the primary antagonistExcept your whole argument thus far is that Primrodus has gotten so much central time already, while Kralk got little in PoF, that we can kill him and Jormag off in the next few episodes and be done with it, which would necessitate Primordus has had the development to be on the same level of development as the other dragons, which he isn't. Even if you remove "War Eternal" from the mix, Prmordus has nowhere near the level of creature diversity as Kralk.No, my argument has been that Primordus has gotten enough central time in Season 3, equivalent to how much Kralk got in PoF or Mordy got in S2, that the next two episodes can split focus on Jormag and Primordus with the last two being all about killing Primordus. Especially if the last intermission between 6 and 7 is about Primordus too, even if partially.

That's rather proof of my argument more than yours. Aurene was the core plot in these elements, not Kralkatorrik.Also incorrect. Kralkatorik was the core plot in all these elements, as all of this was targeted to defeating and replacing him. Be it part of Glint's plan, Balthazar's ambition, or our own agenda, all of these plots elements were centered around Kralk.No, Kralkatorrik was not. Kralkatorrik had no involvement in Season 3.

From Season 2 to Season 4, there was a subplot running: Aurene's plot. This plot interconnected with whatever main plot was going on, but it was still its own subplot.

Kralkatorrik's plot was a minor subplot only for PoF and the first half of S4, and only became a main plot in the second half of S4 - something which you agreed with earlier - and the mentions of Glint's Legacy are as related to Kralkatorrik's plot as they are to Mordremoth's plot in Season 2 and HoT, or as related to Primordus and Balthazar in Season 3.

Kralkatorrik's plot was not present in Season 2, Heart of Thorns, or Season 3. Aurene's plot was, and continued into PoF. Within PoF, Aurene's plot and Kralkatorrik's plot are entirely separated and only conjoin in Season 4's second half.

As Sadizi pointed out, the purpose of Glint's Legacy isn't to replace Kralkatorrik. It's to replace all six Elder Dragons. That Kralkatorrik was the first one replaced was ultimately a coincidence - could have easily been decided to be Primordus or Jormag by ANet.

Sure, there were some people recruited for fighting Kralkatorrik but this is mainly limited to the djinn, who was just finding a better defense against Kralk. Everyone else? It was to give them shelter.Uh huh

• All those Sunspear recruits that came there due to the recruitment poster we put up
• All the Pact soldiers there
• The Djinn
• Zafirah

Yep, all of them are there as refugees from Kralk... except, no, they aren't. Sun's Refuges started off as a refugee camp, but, if you actually do all the achievements(which I can only guess you haven't?) the overwhelming majority of NPCs in Sun's Refuge are there as part of military buildup, while the Refugee's are just one corner of it. And they make it clear you are doing this as part of a military buildup effort to combat Kralk. Like, I really don't understand your desire to argue something so basic.

• Was for protecting the people of Elona, not fighitng Kralkatorrik.
• Happened to be there when chasing the Death-Branded Shatterer and had nothing to do with establishing Sun's Refuge. The few inside were taking refuge from the Brandstorms.
• I mentioned the djinn, she is the exception
• Zafirah wasn't staying in Sun's Refuge for attacking Kralkatorrik, she was there for Aurene.

Except as you yourself have pointed out more then once, the game has already shown us that Zhaitan and Mordremoth magics work against each other.Something that was never part of their plot, unlike this time, and while the magics

seem

to work against each other,

they're not each other's unique weakness

which is critical.

Unless we find out that Taimi was wrong (entirely possible, but not yet hinted at), then we will need Primordus' magic to slay Jormag and vice versa. And like the fake Dragonsblood spears, expensive imitations like a fire god's sword or jotun fire magic will be enough to harm, but not kill, Jormag.

A. Are you seriously suggesting that we wont get the bow back before the end of the season? I know you know better then that.B. You need to brush up more on the Asgeir legend, the book "A Burden", and everything that has happened with Braham thus far.A. That is an entire popssibility. Next time we see it, it very well may be the "Sanguinary Bow" for all we know.B. No, I don't, because even Asgeir's legend and "everything that has happened so far" with Braham has not shown that the Spirits of the Wild can kill Jormag. Asgeir was able to kill Frostfang in a single blow because of the jotun scroll he had. Same reason he could break Jormag's tusk. Asgeir being able to beat Jormag or not is intentionally left open, just because he felt maybe he could have doesn't mean he actually could have - it is a sign of his self doubt about his decision to relent on his attacks.

[Amanda Whitemoon.6173]

im all for the idea that anet has already thought of a new storyline for after the dragons, and is slowly dripfeeding the game with tiny clues about this new enemy, the darkness in the new fractal, mist warrior outfit

about shiro's deadwail, the cinematic showed it as a giant black mushroom cloud with purple lightning, i know the lore says its dwayna's magic in a corrupted form and thats why does the opposite of what you expect from dwayna, removing life (petrified) instead of giving life, there could still be some other force from the mists at work here

didnt anet once mentioned that they use purple ro show of evil?, wich can explain the purple lightning

[Fueki.4753]

@Amanda Whitemoon.6173 said:im all for the idea that anet has already thought of a new storyline for after the dragons, and is slowly dripfeeding the game with tiny clues about this new enemy, the darkness in the new fractal, mist warrior outfit

about shiro's deadwail, the cinematic showed it as a giant black mushroom cloud with purple lightning, i know the lore says its dwayna's magic in a corrupted form and thats why does the opposite of what you expect from dwayna, removing life (petrified) instead of giving life, there could still be some other force from the mists at work here

Abaddon's Margonites had purple magical body parts, so it's plausible to assume that the purple lightning could have been his magic.But we also know that Lightning magic, which is belongs to air magic, is purple in GW2 (I don't recall the particle effect colours in GW1, but the icons are red).Since (human) air magic comes from Dwayna, the purple lightning could just be her stolen magic.

didnt anet once mentioned that they use purple ro show of evil?They merely hinted at it with Abaddon's Margonites.

And then you have Mesmers, who mostly use purple magic.We all know that Mesmers, with their mind trickery and manipulative tendencies, usually aren't the nicest bunch.A prime example for this would be Anise.

[radda.8920]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@Thornwolf.9721 said:What if we wake up Primordus?This would be the worst option possible.

Zhaitan, Mordremoth, Kralk, and Jormag, have all corrupted the living to expand their forces/territory, and generally seem to WANT to corrupt the living to do so, despite being able to make purely elemental minions out of nothing.

Primrodus on the other hand is the exact opposite. He has never directly corrupted a living being that we know of, and makes no effort to corrupt the land around him either. Primordus is the one least involved with mortal affairs, only because he is the one most intrested in simply burning the whole world down. Primordus is quite possibly the WORST of the Elder Dragons due to this, the greatest of evils. Arguably even more psychotic then Kralk was, because, even with his torment, Kralk wasn't that genocidal.

Primordus is easily the LAST dragon you want awake, period. If anything, if Jormag seriously offers us the chance to kill Priomordus, we should take it, then immediately turn around kill Jormag after. As little as you should trust Jormag, you should trust Primordus even LESS.

This is also why I suspect Primrodus will be last.

it's a matter of perspective. I find it much more cruel to corrupt living things and use them as toys for eternity by having them kill their own people.At least primordius seeks to simply kill living beings and allows them to join the mists without becoming puppets

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@Fueki.4753 said:

@"Amanda Whitemoon.6173" said:didnt anet once mentioned that they use purple ro show of evil?They merely hinted at it with Abaddon's Margonites.

And then you have Mesmers, who mostly use purple magic.We all know that Mesmers, with their mind trickery and manipulative tendencies, usually aren't the nicest bunch.A prime example for this would be Anise.

Jeff Grubb said that purple was the color of evil in GW when asked if there was any relation between Kralkatorrik and Abaddon due to the heavy use of purple by both, back in 2010 when the Gamescom demo first revealed the Dragonbrand. It was basically Jeff saying "they're not related except through both being evil".

We also see purple highlights coming in with Mordremoth's, Zhaitan's, and Jormag's heaviest corrupted areas.

I am not sure if this was a design aesthetic back during Factions though. But purple lightning = evil lightning certainly does fit the running theme.

[ugrakarma.9416]

@"Sajuuk Khar.1509" said:Honestly, I find it entirely possible that literally nothing in Icebrood Saga will lead to Cantha. Instead, IBS will end, then we will get some sort of prologue chapter like "stuff going down in the Dominion of Winds and the Tengu are letting people in to help" and we will get some small map in the Dominion of Winds, and thats were we will get our first taste of Canthan-like stuff(outside of the fractal), and that leads to the Tengu wanting to return to Cantha or w/e.

Is a possibility, since in IBS they introduced the "extra chapter"/"extra content" concept(Steel and Fire).

[ugrakarma.9416]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@"Thornwolf.9721" said:What if we wake up Primordus?This would be the worst option possible.

Zhaitan, Mordremoth, Kralk, and Jormag, have all corrupted the living to expand their forces/territory, and generally seem to WANT to corrupt the living to do so, despite being able to make purely elemental minions out of nothing.

Primrodus on the other hand is the exact opposite. He has never directly corrupted a living being that we know of, and makes no effort to corrupt the land around him either. Primordus is the one least involved with mortal affairs, only because he is the one most intrested in simply burning the whole world down. Primordus is quite possibly the WORST of the Elder Dragons due to this, the greatest of evils. Arguably even more psychotic then Kralk was, because, even with his torment, Kralk wasn't that genocidal.

Primordus is easily the LAST dragon you want awake, period. If anything, if Jormag seriously offers us the chance to kill Priomordus, we should take it, then immediately turn around kill Jormag after. As little as you should trust Jormag, you should trust Primordus even LESS.

This is also why I suspect Primrodus will be last.

Another more practical reason is that they recently came out of a 'fire' themed expansion, pushing people to fight againt another "pyromaniac super entity" would be tiring.

[Kodama.6453]

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@Fueki.4753 said:

@"Amanda Whitemoon.6173" said:didnt anet once mentioned that they use purple ro show of evil?They merely hinted at it with Abaddon's Margonites.

And then you have Mesmers, who mostly use purple magic.We all know that Mesmers, with their mind trickery and manipulative tendencies, usually aren't the nicest bunch.A prime example for this would be Anise.

Jeff Grubb said that purple was the color of evil in GW when asked if there was any relation between Kralkatorrik and Abaddon due to the heavy use of purple by both, back in 2010 when the Gamescom demo first revealed the Dragonbrand. It was basically Jeff saying "they're not related except through both being evil".

We also see purple highlights coming in with Mordremoth's, Zhaitan's, and Jormag's heaviest corrupted areas.

I am not sure if this was a design aesthetic back during Factions though. But purple lightning = evil lightning certainly does fit the running theme.

I don't think that he meant that purple is the colour of evil with that quote.At least how you described it here "they're not related except through both being evil", he just wanted to point out that it might be a coincidence that both are purple and the only relation between them is that they are evil, but that does not mean that purple is evil per se.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@Kodama.6453 said:

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@Fueki.4753 said:

@"Amanda Whitemoon.6173" said:didnt anet once mentioned that they use purple ro show of evil?They merely hinted at it with Abaddon's Margonites.

And then you have Mesmers, who mostly use purple magic.We all know that Mesmers, with their mind trickery and manipulative tendencies, usually aren't the nicest bunch.A prime example for this would be Anise.

Jeff Grubb said that purple was the color of evil in GW when asked if there was any relation between Kralkatorrik and Abaddon due to the heavy use of purple by both, back in 2010 when the Gamescom demo first revealed the Dragonbrand. It was basically Jeff saying "they're not related except through both being evil".

We also see purple highlights coming in with Mordremoth's, Zhaitan's, and Jormag's heaviest corrupted areas.

I am not sure if this was a design aesthetic back during Factions though. But purple lightning = evil lightning certainly does fit the running theme.

I don't think that he meant that purple is the colour of evil with that quote.At least how you described it here "they're not related except through both being evil", he just wanted to point out that it might be a coincidence that both are purple and the only relation between them is that they are evil, but that does not mean that

purple

is evil per se.

Don't have a link to the original, but luckily google was able to find me a discussion that quoted it: https://archive.guildwarslegacy.com/18/00063%20Glint%2C%20The%20Mystery%20of%20the%20Gods%2C%20%26%20Kuunavang%20%28Spoilers_%29.001.html So the original wording is:

Q: A little controversial discussion since Nightfall: Is Abbadon still alive in some form? And while on the topic of Abbadon, a lot of people have been comparing the Branded of Kralkatorrik to the Margonites of Abbadon. Is there a connection between them outside of the color purple?

A: Basically the gods have stepped back. They've let humanity go forward on their own. They are still part of the world in the way that there's still worship but they aren't interfering as much as they were back in those days. The fact that Abbadon's minions had that purplish glow and what we're seeing in the crystal is as far as I know. Coincidental because purple is of course, the color of evil. The fact that there is some similarity-- dragon's contain a lot of power. And the nature of that power comes to the surface. Not all dragon minions are purple in nature. So there's no definitive link between Abbadon and Kralkatorrik.

So it was that it was "coincidence", but it was coincidence because "purple is the color of evil".

[Akdeoni.4062]

I have a feeling "Imperial Cantha" silence/Xenophobic isolation attitude are not entirely a great news for our side, we might be facing an overwhelming invasion from "Imperial Cantha" this time, given the recent civil war noises up far in the north. Upfront target might be Elona/Istan(they are closer and are still recovering) or Domain of wind(old scores).

likely using dragon and non-human extermination as an excuse and/or at the false pretense of sending humanitarian aid while actually executing overwhelming occupation forces, given the emperor himself might had alternative means or ways to channel/consume these runaway leyline/dragon energies for direct use(something down the Kormir line of ascension), this also reflect why in trailer the dragons themselves are threaten even far down south and their are seeking unlikely allies up north.. help to fight against something more hungrier and unstable than the dragons and gods combine.

[Stephen.6312]

@"Akdeoni.4062" said:I have a feeling "Imperial Cantha" silence/Xenophobic isolation attitude are not entirely a great news for our side, we might be facing an overwhelming invasion from "Imperial Cantha" this time, given the recent civil war noises up far in the north. Upfront target might be Elona/Istan(they are closer and are still recovering) or Domain of wind(old scores).

likely using dragon and non-human extermination as an excuse and/or at the false pretense of sending humanitarian aid while actually executing overwhelming occupation forces, given the emperor himself might had alternative means or ways to channel/consume these runaway leyline/dragon energies for direct use(something down the Kormir line of ascension), this also reflect why in trailer the dragons themselves are threaten even far down south and their are seeking unlikely allies up north.. help to fight against something more hungrier and unstable than the dragons and gods combine.

I like where you're going with this. Particularly the idea that the Emperor may try to ascend. We don't know where the tradition of Canthan royal ascension comes from. Perhaps the ED cycle is the catalyst and the Elders are, inadvertedly, juicing up the Canthan leader?

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@radda.8920 said:it's a matter of perspective. I find it much more cruel to corrupt living things and use them as toys for eternity by having them kill their own people.At least primordius seeks to simply kill living beings and allows them to join the mists without becoming puppetsSure, but the ultimate point was that Primordus seems to put the least value in mortal life of all the Elder Dragons. So awakening him to have him fight Jormag for us isn't a good idea. Primrodus would be the greater evil in that situation.

[Tyson.5160]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@radda.8920 said:it's a matter of perspective. I find it much more cruel to corrupt living things and use them as toys for eternity by having them kill their own people.At least primordius seeks to simply kill living beings and allows them to join the mists without becoming puppetsSure, but the ultimate point was that Primordus seems to put the least value in mortal life of all the Elder Dragons. So awakening him to have him fight Jormag for us isn't a good idea. Primrodus would be the greater evil in that situation.

And really since Primordus does not need living beings for minions, it fits into his goal as being the dragon of destruction and fire, with his goal to really have Tyria covered in lava and magma, gorging on magic.

[Akdeoni.4062]

@Stephen.6312 said:

@"Akdeoni.4062" said:I have a feeling "Imperial Cantha" silence/Xenophobic isolation attitude are not entirely a great news for our side, we might be facing an overwhelming invasion from "Imperial Cantha" this time, given the recent civil war noises up far in the north. Upfront target might be Elona/Istan(they are closer and are still recovering) or Domain of wind(old scores).

likely using dragon and non-human extermination as an excuse and/or at the false pretense of sending humanitarian aid while actually executing overwhelming occupation forces, given the emperor himself might had alternative means or ways to channel/consume these runaway leyline/dragon energies for direct use(something down the Kormir line of ascension), this also reflect why in trailer the dragons themselves are threaten even far down south and their are seeking unlikely allies up north.. help to fight against something more hungrier and unstable than the dragons and gods combine.

I like where you're going with this. Particularly the idea that the Emperor may try to ascend. We don't know where the tradition of Canthan royal ascension comes from. Perhaps the ED cycle is the catalyst and the Elders are, inadvertedly, juicing up the Canthan leader?

To juice it up a little here a slightly more holistic speculation for the cycles and the relationship of Tyria and Cantha. Just for reads.

Of Cantha AscensionThe records for the dragon empire emperor ascension as a requirement before becoming ascend to throne was surprising rather recent one, it is mentioned they get their source of ascension for pre-historical ancestral origin(it predates the current departed gods).

Of the Origin of Ley-energiesIn fact, I had a strong suspicion the ascension rites in both Cantha and Tyria might be the addition conditioning the world to handle the ley-energies related balancing, on top of those born on the World of Tyria.

Speculations of prior cyclesAs time passes this energies accumulated in a myriad of beings who are able to handle and these become the dragons, giants, seers, mursaats...as they consume more of these energies they create aspects to prevent others to conditioning these wild unstable energies, this in turn create a huge void thus starving the world of energies to maintain normal functional seasons without unstable energies intervention/devastations.

Disaster happen when these powerful aspect beings dies, control over their aspect energies goes amok and can only be consume fast enough by those who are able to, else the world would revert to a mass of un-aspected chaotic mess.

Speculations of nature of cyclesThis economy resulted in an energy starvation/void cycle. This allows conflict grow increasing in devastation. Some(giants) die out or shrunk(stone folks, human), while others(dragons) tide it out and slow down the lose of this energies waiting for another surge to happen, some(Seers, Mursaats, Forgotten) hold them in their respective aspect mist pockets be it memories or bloodstone. only allow a manageable amount to seep back to the world eventually, until the system comes into conflict.

Of rite difference in Tyria and CanthaThe last was a bit of the world returning to its original conditioning, this is where human and the current cycle of gods come about. They abide the ascension rites as it is original system to handle the energy transfer to those who can handle.

The only difference is the Cantha rite source might root itself from an older aspect channeling cycle and strengthen by the current one. (This would be the speculated problem for EOD, elaborate later in "Speculations on the Cantha threat").

While the Tyria/Elona ones uses the six gods as the aspect channeling cycle building on top of the older cycles including conditioning of the seers and mursaats.

Of deeds of GodsEventually, the gods uncovered and realized the problematic nature of these energies when some of their own begin to misbehave, most decide to the departure to get these huge and aspect energies they carry, but these was not entertain by those beloved by followers and those that can't part with their followers, and those who simply just brute force believing absorbing those energies, in strong believe he is an ultimate hero to save the day.

And the happenings in GW1, shows the energy imbalance had grow more pronounce with both departing gods and weh no su "attempts"** to containing it, with one god endearment resulted in GW2 new cycle of excess of runaway energies, and all are in to contest state.

Of Dragons and current affairsSurely, the dragons knew whats up, much like those departing gods they also have their way to handle/aspecting these energies in contest, some of them just aspecting these energies back to the world without consideration of the willingness of the rest of the world. While other dragons seeks a compromise believing the leftover energies are able to be contain by the remain lifeform without forcing aspect as cycles before.

Speculations on the Cantha threatGiven the earlier context it is likely Weh no su might eventually gone runaway, highly possibly grow into a "semi sentient mass of ley-energy hungry entity".In fact, they have a lot lesser aspect conditioning in compare to those in the north in part due to dragon aspecting huge reservoir(which is currently being overcapacited), plus the lesser amount lesser aspected beings(humans). As mentioned the northern surge might throw this system out its capacity of handle. And this might be how our story comes to play.

ConclusionIn Conclusion, these basic speculations are on arrangement of current available information, please study for your own pleasure.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@Stephen.6312 said:

@"Akdeoni.4062" said:I have a feeling "Imperial Cantha" silence/Xenophobic isolation attitude are not entirely a great news for our side, we might be facing an overwhelming invasion from "Imperial Cantha" this time, given the recent civil war noises up far in the north. Upfront target might be Elona/Istan(they are closer and are still recovering) or Domain of wind(old scores).

likely using dragon and non-human extermination as an excuse and/or at the false pretense of sending humanitarian aid while actually executing overwhelming occupation forces, given the emperor himself might had alternative means or ways to channel/consume these runaway leyline/dragon energies for direct use(something down the Kormir line of ascension), this also reflect why in trailer the dragons themselves are threaten even far down south and their are seeking unlikely allies up north.. help to fight against something more hungrier and unstable than the dragons and gods combine.

I like where you're going with this. Particularly the idea that the Emperor may try to ascend.

We don't know where the tradition of Canthan royal ascension comes from.

Perhaps the ED cycle is the catalyst and the Elders are, inadvertedly, juicing up the Canthan leader?

Uhm, yes we do:

In the common tongue spoken in Tyria and modern Cantha, this is usually translated as "Ascendant Emperor." This is attributed to the fact that young princes of royal blood are expected to train in one or more of the heroic professions and ascend to a higher plane of awareness, a tradition begun with Chang Hai, a prince, Warrior,[...]The departure of the gods and the almost simultaneous gift of magic had a profound effect on all human cultures, especially those in Cantha. The heroic professions—their formal practices and requirements still in infancy—became widespread. The eldest prince of the imperial line, Chanang, defied the wishes of his father and chose to follow the hero's path. He studied the ways of the Warrior and spent four years at a remote temple on the island of Shing Jea learning the holy practices of the Monk. Then he set out to perform great deeds as a true hero of Cantha.

Thanks to a small coterie of scribes that traveled with him, his exploits are still widely read in Cantha a thousand years later. Chanang became one of the first Canthan heroes to become Closer to the Stars (what in Tyria is referred to as "ascension") and, when the time came to succeed his father on the throne, he refused the title "lord emperor" and instead became the first "ascendant emperor," changing his name to Chang Hai. Since then, all emperors have been required—by family tradition if not actual law—to practice in at least two of the heroic professions. Today, Kisu is the 31st Canthan emperor, but is also the 20th ascendant emperor.https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/An_Empire_Divided

It's a tradition that is basically steeped in a famous ancient heroic figure who happened to be emperor's heir undergoing Weh no Su. An act that ultimately began with the Six Gods leaving the world and the gift of magic. Chang Hai, then Chanang, was basically an explorer in a world which suddenly gained magic, and became famous for that.

Also, despite the shared term, Ascension has nothing to do with becoming a god or "Kormir's Ascension". It's a folly of ANet overusing common terminology, and nothing more.

[Akdeoni.4062]

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:

It's a tradition that is basically steeped in a famous ancient heroic figure who happened to be emperor's heir undergoing Weh no Su. An act that ultimately began with the Six Gods leaving the world and the gift of magic. Chang Hai, then Chanang, was basically an explorer in a world which suddenly gained magic, and became famous for that.

Also, despite the shared term, Ascension has nothing to do with becoming a god or "Kormir's Ascension". It's a folly of ANet overusing common terminology, and nothing more.

Yes, the Canthan do perform Weh no Su for ascension rites, and I understand Kormir's ascension to godhood might be a different affair entirely, but again there are no direct stated distinction between the two are entirely different either, so I wouldn't dare claim ANet folly on that perhaps its really a very general term instead?

3 points of speculation here are:

1) A general speculation that ascension would simply means a being are now capable of handling an more than they are born with to be able to handle, regardless of the amount energy they actually form upon an aspect. In Komir case it might be more extreme immediate case, in part due to the situation in GW1 calls for it, but it was not perfect as we know in GW2.

2) I believe the only mentions of Komir's ascension in Cantha was that they noted and celebrated the ascension. Before the rise of Orr and the cut off. There are no mentions that Weh no Su wasn't affected by it. That uncalled surge of energy, might led to improvise if not dangerously unstable "added on solutions" to current ascension rites due to red tape that Imperial Cantha are famous for, which is now further upset by all to mess in the north

In respect to the above and the current affairs on Tyria, We can likely speculate the whole system had already been badly upset and unbalanced with dead dragons and dead gods, and Weh no Su being part of the system are likely not spared unaffected.

[Stephen.6312]

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@Stephen.6312 said:

@"Akdeoni.4062" said:I have a feeling "Imperial Cantha" silence/Xenophobic isolation attitude are not entirely a great news for our side, we might be facing an overwhelming invasion from "Imperial Cantha" this time, given the recent civil war noises up far in the north. Upfront target might be Elona/Istan(they are closer and are still recovering) or Domain of wind(old scores).

likely using dragon and non-human extermination as an excuse and/or at the false pretense of sending humanitarian aid while actually executing overwhelming occupation forces, given the emperor himself might had alternative means or ways to channel/consume these runaway leyline/dragon energies for direct use(something down the Kormir line of ascension), this also reflect why in trailer the dragons themselves are threaten even far down south and their are seeking unlikely allies up north.. help to fight against something more hungrier and unstable than the dragons and gods combine.

I like where you're going with this. Particularly the idea that the Emperor may try to ascend.

We don't know where the tradition of Canthan royal ascension comes from.

Perhaps the ED cycle is the catalyst and the Elders are, inadvertedly, juicing up the Canthan leader?

Uhm, yes we do:

Thank you for clarifying that, Konig.